According to the Coinbase Transparency Report, the United States authorities were the most active, with 5,868 requests, representing 57% of the total requests. In addition to the United States, law enforcement officers in Germany, Great Britain, and Spain contacted Coinbase. For the first time, requests to the exchange were sent by law enforcement officers from Armenia. Ukraine increased the number of hits to Coinbase by more than 300%.
In 95.6% of cases, law enforcement agencies around the world sought information in criminal cases, while only 4.4% involved civil lawsuits.
How much data Coinbase provided to law enforcement in response was not disclosed. Coinbase only clarified that it has the right to transfer customer data such as name, IP address of last login or logout, and payment information depending on the nature and volume of the request.
Coinbase’s head of legal affairs, Paul Grewal, assured that instead of providing individual information about clients, the exchange seeks to provide anonymous or aggregated data, which, however, can help in the work of law enforcement and government agencies. However, Coinbase does not provide any government with direct access to customer information through the exchange system or through third party systems.
In May, a New Hampshire district court allowed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to obtain users’ personal data from Coinbase. Last year, the marketplace denied reports that it was selling customer data to US authorities.
Source: Bits
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