Yahoo complied with requests for data on 800-plus Hong Kong users
None of law enforcers' demands for personal details were refused in first half of this year
Hong Kong's law enforcement agencies demanded the personal details of more than 800 Yahoo users between January and June, and the internet giant complied with all the requests.
That compared to one request to Facebook in the same period.
Information technology sector lawmaker Charles Mok expressed surprised at the Yahoo figure. "The number is quite high," he said.
Yahoo's head lawyer, Ron Bell, said the company assessed requests according to the legal requirements of each jurisdiction. "We regularly push back against improper requests for user data, including fighting requests that are unclear, improper, overbroad or unlawful," Bell said.
The figures were revealed in Yahoo's first global transparency report on Friday, and come amid growing concerns over cybersurveillance after former CIA analyst and US government contractor Edward Snowden exposed secret online spying efforts by the US National Security Agency.
Yahoo's report covers 17 regions. The US topped the list with 12,444 requests, followed by Germany (4,295), Italy (2,637) Taiwan (1,942), France (1,855) and the UK (1,709). Hong Kong came in eighth, with officials asking for data 849 times - a daily average of five requests. Most were linked to criminal probes.