“Google ends direct cooperation with Hong Kong authorities on data requests”, 14 August 2020

Google will stop responding directly to data requests from Hong Kong authorities, according to a person familiar with the matter, treating the territory effectively the same as mainland China in such transactions.

The move comes in the wake of Beijing’s imposition of a broad national security law…

Google notified Hong Kong police… that it would instead direct officials to pursue any requests for data through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the United States, a cumbersome process in which requests are routed through the Justice Department and that can take weeks or months…

Google, along with Facebook and Twitter, stopped reviewing requests for user data from Hong Kong in July after China enacted the national security law. Tech companies said they were concerned about the human rights implications of continuing to comply with Hong Kong government requests.

A Google spokesman Aaron Stein said the company has “not produced data in response to new requests from Hong Kong authorities” since the security law was enacted and that “remains the case.”…

“… We carefully review all requests for user data and push back on overly broad ones to protect our users’ privacy,” Stein added…

The Hong Kong police did not immediately respond to a request for comment…