Government agencies are asking telecoms and social media companies to turn over Canadians’ user data at “jaw-dropping” rates, with nearly 1.2 million requests in 2011 alone.

Which government and law enforcement agencies are requesting the data from the companies remains shrouded in secrecy. And the companies themselves are refusing to disclose further details, according to Canada’s privacy watchdog.

But privacy experts say the sheer number of requests, revealed Tuesday for the first time, is “staggering” in scale.

“I would have been surprised at 100,000,” said David Fraser, a privacy lawyer with McInnes Cooper. “The numbers that we had before today were incredibly vague; the numbers that we have now are unsettling.”