Well, the federal government’s subpoena asking for “one million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period” has moved to it’s next step.
After Google decided that the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), or rather, the defense of COPA as constitutional, wasn’t important enough to get them to violate their perception of the privacy rights of its users (not to mention they claim it would reveal company trade secrets). Since Google refused to comply with the original subpoena, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has asked a federal judge to order Google to turn over a broad range of material from its closely guarded databases.
The whole thing started because COPA’s being struck down as making it too difficult for adults to get access to pornography . and the feds have requested information from several search sites to show that Web users encounter online porn a lot, and demonstrate how often Web searches turn up material they say is “harmful to minors.”
Of course, the case has privacy advocates (and all the people who feel guilty about their Google searches) up in arms:
“This is exactly the kind of case that privacy advocates have long feared,” said Ray Everett-Church, a South Bay privacy consultant. “The idea that these massive databases are being thrown open to anyone with a court document is the worst-case scenario. If they lose this fight, consumers will think twice about letting Google deep into their lives.”
"Mercury News":http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/13657386.htmSimilar Posts:
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