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Google, gov't in search spat - Privacy Issues

MoSSMoSS 458 Posts
edited January 2006 in Strut Central
Google, gov't in search spat By ELIZABETH LAZAROWITZ and DANIEL DUNAIEFDAILY NEWS BUSINESS WRITERS Google co-founders Sergey Brin (l.) and Larry Page subpoenaed. Google is rebuffing the government's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet's leading search engine - a request that raises concerns Big Brother may be watching a little too closely.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales this week asked a federal judge in San Jose for an order to force a handover of the requested records.The government wants a list of all requests entered into Google's search engine during a single week - a breakdown that could span tens of millions of queries. In addition, it seeks one million randomly selected Web addresses from various Google databases.The government says the information is vital to restore online child protection laws that have been struck down by the Supreme Court.Privacy experts are concerned about the potential link connecting individuals with searches."We may well be living in a new era here in terms of governments and data flow," said Pam Dixon, the executive director of the nonprofit World Privacy Forum. "This subpoena could, if fulfilled as originally requested, definitely compromise the privacy of quite a few people."Dixon said about 30% of searches are connectable to the searcher. Regardless of the outcome of the legal battle, Dixon advised people never to type their full name and social security number in a search.Others expressed similar concerns."If you are registered with Google so you can use G-mail or some other bundled service and you search on Google, they can link your real identity to your search terms," said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation."What you Google for defines you," said Bankston. "It reveals very often your greatest hopes and your deepest fears, your personal business and medical problems and issues ... and plenty of other First Amendment protected activities that you do online."Google objected to the government's subpoena, saying it would reveal trade secrets by providing the data and disclose personally identifiable information about its users.In response, the government said it would keep the data secret and that the request wasn't for personal information.Nicole Wong, a Google lawyer said the demand for information "over-reaches."The information would "assist the government in its efforts to understand the behavior of current Web users, to estimate how often Web users encounter harmful-to-minors material in the course of their searches," the government's filing said.

  Comments

  • goatboygoatboy 371 Posts
    Read about this last night - I'm totally disgusted (but no longer surprised) by every new transgression of those in power.

    Yahoo already gave up all their information.

    I don't know if Google will be able to hold out but I sure am rooting for them.

    I imagine Yahoo might lose a LOT of users now.
  • jazzercismjazzercism 838 Posts
    Read about this last night - I'm totally disgusted (but no longer surprised) by every new transgression of those in power.

    Yahoo already gave up all their information.

    I don't know if Google will be able to hold out but I sure am rooting for them.

    I imagine Yahoo might lose a LOT of users now.

    MSN and AOL gave up the goods as well.
  • goatboygoatboy 371 Posts
    They're all soft!

    What gets me is that the administration is basically doing it to get around a supreme court decision that was already made around two years ago. Just another example of how they think they are entitled to be above and beyond the law. When I grew up we had a name for that: criminals.

    Ok, officially getting down off soapbox now...
  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts
    it seems unfathomable to me that the courts would let the govt prevail in this case. there are clear first amend rights being violated. why would yahoo & aol give up this info?
    motherfucker what the fuck?
    this ain't america is it?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    You've gotta be as rich as those Google guys to fight a supena. I thought a supena meant; we are coming in and looking don't try to stop us.

    Of course all that info is available to marketers who want to buy it from google.

  • goatboygoatboy 371 Posts
    You've gotta be as rich as those Google guys to fight a supena.

    Maybe true, but I would have thought that Yahoo and AOL had at least as much $$.
    I guess they didn't have the will...

    People should be taking lessons from librarians.
    Who would have thought that they would be the symbols of strength in the New America?
  • nzshadownzshadow 5,526 Posts
    People should be taking lessons from librarians.
    Who would have thought that they would be the symbols of strength in the New America?



  • BamboucheBambouche 1,484 Posts
    I don't know if Google will be able to hold out but I sure am rooting for them.





    I wouldn't root too much for Google.



    Google, while retaining the "we're the good guys" appearance, has an indefinite retention policy for all deleted email and user data. Google has an intimate "no comment" relationship with the NSA. CNET exposed this relationship and challenge Google's privacy issues. Google's answer was to blacklist CNET articles discussing such items from their search engine.



    If Google provides SF with their city-wide free broadband, they will retain much more than just email data. They are already practicing "above the law," it's only a matter of time until they have surpassed IBM or Microsoft with their creepiness.



    I don't think most people realize how powerful Google really is. Not just as a company, but as a search engine.



    A few examples: if you wanted to find listings of every unsecure webcam on the internet:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=inurl%3A"ViewerFrame%3FMode%3D"&btnG=Search





    Indexes of open folders full of mp3s:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q="Index+of+%2Fmp3"+-html+-htm+-php+-asp+-txt+-pls+&btnG=Search



    Indexes of open folders of photos:

    http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q="Index+of+%2Fphotos"+-html+-htm+-php+-asp+-txt+-pls+&btnG=Search





    Most people just don't understand how to build complex queries to find these things.

  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    What search engine SHOULD be supported? (I'm serious, BTW...)
  • troublemantroubleman 1,928 Posts
    People should be taking lessons from librarians.
    Who would have thought that they would be the symbols of strength in the New America?




  • BamboucheBambouche 1,484 Posts
    What search engine SHOULD be supported? (I'm serious, BTW...)

    http://icerocket.com

    http://clusty.com

    http://gigablast.com

    http://snap.com

    http://scroogle.org

    http://mamma.com

    http://blinkx.tv - (for video content)

    http://digg.com
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