( CNN ) -- In 2009 the U.S government dubbed January 28 `` Data Privacy Day . '' Four years later , it 's the government 's own actions to obtain personal information that are in the spotlight , thanks to new reports from Google and Twitter . The goal of Data Privacy Day is to educate people and companies on the vulnerability of personal data , including information shared on social networks , financial data and anything stored on cloud services . The holiday is spearheaded by the National Cyber Security Alliance ( NCSA ) , a nonprofit organization that works with government agencies and major tech companies including Intel , Google , Microsoft and Facebook . `` We want to raise universal awareness about people respecting the privacy of others and safeguarding their data , '' said Michael Kaiser , NSCA 's executive director . To mark the occasion , Twitter released its latest transparency report , which breaks down government requests for user data as well as copyright complaints and `` take down '' requests . Google followed up on its own transparency report , released last week , with a blog post explaining how it fields government requests and a new section on its transparency report that addresses common questions about the process . The numbers from the two companies show a steady increase in requests from the U.S. government for personal data . Usually these requests are part of criminal investigations or court cases , according to the two companies . The majority of requests from U.S. agencies are subpoenas , followed by search warrants , court orders and some emergency requests . Search warrants are more difficult to obtain than a subpoena and require a higher standard of probable cause . In the past six months , Google received 21,389 requests for data , a 70 % increase since the company first started releasing the report in 2010 . The largest single entity requesting information continued to be the U.S. government , which submitted 8,438 of the requests . Google turned over some or all of the requested information 88 percent of the time , Twitter 57 percent of the time . Twitter received 1,858 requests for information about 1,433 accounts , 815 of which were from the U.S. government . The social network added a new home for its transparency reports , transparency.twitter.com , and expanded the report to include more details about the requests and an expanded entry to cover the activity in the United States . `` It 's our continued hope that providing greater insight into this information helps in at least two ways : first , to raise public awareness about these invasive requests ; second , to enable policy makers to make more informed decisions , '' Twitter 's legal policy manager Jeremy Kessel said in a blog post . Transparency and education about what the government can access and how are important , but the companies also want to change the laws to better protect user privacy in the first place . `` We 're a law-abiding company , and we do n't want our services to be used in harmful ways . But it 's just as important that laws protect you against overly broad requests for your personal information , '' said Google 's chief legal officer David Drummon in a blog post on Monday . Under the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act ( ECPA ) , a file stored on a hard drive in your home has greater protection than information stored with a third-party . Whereas the government would require a search warrant for anything in your house , it can request access to e-mails older than 180 days or information stored in the cloud with a subpoena , which is easier to obtain . Twitter and Google are both members of the Digital Due Process Coalition , an organization that is lobbying to update the act . Drummon explained Google 's process for handling requests , which involves notifying users of the requests when legally allowed , and requiring a search warrant for search query and private information from agencies conducting criminal investigations . `` We believe a warrant is required by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution , which prohibits unreasonable search and seizure and overrides conflicting provisions in ECPA , '' says Drummon . These kinds of reports and posts are important tools for educating the public about how and when government agencies can access information , but government requests are only one sliver of data privacy fluency . People can also take steps to better control what they share online on social networks or apps that collect location data . Kaiser recommends people familiarize themselves with privacy policies and regularly update privacy settings on sites such as Facebook . The day is n't just to raise awareness among consumers . Business are also key players in data privacy , and while big names like Google and Twitter have large legal and security teams , smaller companies that also have access to personal data might not . `` We want them to be aware of their responsibility to be stewards of the data people entrust to them , '' said Kaiser .
Data Privacy Day seeks to increase awareness about personal data online . Google , Twitter release latest transparency reports detailing government data requests . Requests from the U.S. government have been steadily rising in recent years .