Transparency is a core value at Google. As a company we feel it is our responsibility to ensure that we maximize transparency around the flow of information related to our tools and services. We believe that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual.
In this report, we disclose the number of requests we receive from governments or copyright owners to remove information from our services, as well as the number of government inquiries we receive for information about users. We hope these steps toward greater transparency will help inform ongoing discussions about the appropriate scope and authority of content regulation online.
Our interactive traffic graphs provide information about traffic to Google services around the world. Each graph shows historic traffic patterns for a geographic region and service. By illustrating outages, this tool visualizes disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it's a government blocking information or a cable being cut. We hope this raw data will help facilitate studies about service outages and disruptions.
Transparency Report