Government Pursuing Google Search Data
Here’s an important post from John Battelle about the Bush administration’s efforts to get at users’ online behavior and search data. Battelle excerpts a San Jose Mercury News article on the Justice Dept. efforts:
In court papers filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Justice Department lawyers revealed that Google has refused to comply with a subpoena issued last year for the records, which include a request for one million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period.
The Mountain View-based search engine opposes releasing the information on a variety of grounds, saying it would violate the privacy rights of its users and reveal company trade secrets, according to court documents.
Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel for Google, said the company will fight the government’s effort “vigorously.’’
Google, to some, was starting to look like Big Brother; now it can say it is defending privacy against Big Brother. Indeed, government spying on private citizens’ communications means privacy is once again on the front burner.
But this dispute isn’t just about privacy; it’s also about the First Amendment and potentially chilling free speech. I’m not going to go on at length about my strong personal views on this issue except to repeat myself:
The “transparency” of online communications, Wi-Fi and wireless phone usage make it all the easier for unscrupulous commercial entities (or unscrupulous governments) to track our behaviors and even privately expressed attitudes (and that will only get easier going forward). And in a “free” country, that’s all really scary … REALLY SCARY.
Privacy (among other important issues like free expression) is something none of us should be complacent about. It’s up to those who have strong views on the subject to express them loudly and publicly or risk further erosion of the kind of rights and protections we all take for granted.
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Greg Sterling is managing editor of The Kelsey Group. He also leads The Kelsey Group’s the Interactive Local Media program, focusing on local search. Greg came to The Kelsey Group from TechTV’s “Working the Web,” the first national television show dedicated to e-business and the Internet.
I’m wondering how the federal government would ascertain that the searches were done by children? Would people running searches on Google have to enter their age before proceeding with their search? Does the government take into consideration how much traffic is likely to be diverted from Google by people who might be afraid to run a search there?
In all my years I’ve never seen such arrogant, flagrant disregard for the U.S. Constitution and Bill-of-Rights by the American Government.
I never believed that a Hitler-type could rise up in America until now. George W. with the Republican controlled Congress and their political party honchos have systematically stripped the American people, whom they supposedly represent, of our “inalienable rights” one right after another in the hokeyest attempt imaginable to convince the people that it’s for their own good. They sell security and safety that they cannot provide — hell, they can’t even handle a hurricane without stepping on their own dragging butts. The saddest thing of all is that the price for this con, this sham, this outrageous deception is our freedoms.
Before you Democrats rasie a loud refrain of “Hell Yes,” your party, its leaders and politics aren’t much, if any, better. I can’t tell the difference between a Democrat and a Republican anymore unless they’re campaigning for election.
“We the People” need to start remembering that it’s our responsibility to ensure our freedoms and not allow anyone to upsurp them, and that applies especially to our own government whose members swear an “Oath of Office” to always preserve them.
Remember too that the Nazis came to power through the “big lie,” brute force, personal intimidation and the revocation of the German people’s rights and freedoms (for their own good, ofcourse). The Germans never thought it could happen to them either but, like the saying goes, “Inch by inch it’s a cinch!”.
I say bully for you Google! Hold your ground; you’re doing more to keep Americans safe than its sworn leaders. To the other, testicle-less sites who peed their pants and capitulated to the unconstitutional, illegal demands of the president and the DOJ, I say: Your sites have been removed from my computers and will remain blocked forevermore.