Google VS Bush

[droplister]

Bush wants to know what people are searching, google wont tell, Maybe Mr. Bush is unaware of overture, or word tracker

US demands Google user information
19/01/2006 - 20:45:53

The Bush Administration has demanded that Google Inc provide details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.

Google has refused to comply with the subpoena, issued last year, for a broad range of material from its databases, including a request for 1 million random web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period, according to lawyers for the US Justice Department in papers filed yesterday in a San Jose court.

Privacy advocates have been increasingly scrutinising Google’s practices as the company expands its offerings to include email, driving directions, photo-sharing, instant messaging and Web journals.

Although Google pledges to protect personal information, the company’s privacy policy says it complies with legal and government requests. Google also has no stated guidelines on how long it keeps data, leading critics to warn that retention is potentially forever given cheap storage costs.

The US government contends it needs the data to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches, as part of an effort to revive an internet child protection law that was struck down two years ago by the US Supreme Court on free-speech grounds.

The 1998 Child Online Protection Act would have required adults to use access codes or other ways of registering before they could see objectionable material online, and it would have punished violators with fines of up to $50,000 or time in prison. The high court ruled that technology such as filtering software may better protect children.

The matter is now before a federal court in Pennsylvania, and the government wants the Google data to help argue that the law is more effective than software in protecting children from porn.

The Mountain View-based company told The San Jose Mercury News that it opposes releasing the information because it would violate the privacy rights of its users and would reveal company trade secrets.

Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel for Google, said the company will fight the government’s efforts “vigorously.”

“Google is not a party to this lawsuit, and the demand for the information is overreaching,” Wong said.

 

[Andrew Shaw]

Very interested piece there. thanks for sharing.

 

[fab]

Great, it's about time someone started teaching Google a lesson!

 

[StockDoctor]

Great, it's about time someone started teaching Google a lesson!

Great, it's about time someone started teaching Bush a lesson!

 

[MrDude]

I beleive google are in the right in this situation, F**k Bush, He dont deserve to be called "Mr Bush".

 

[dsturbed]

Buck Fush! That's an absurd request by the government of Google... they are in no way legally required to provide that information, supeona or not!

 

[Limit$]

Bust is the worst president the united states elected.

 

[ezimedia]

HI

It depends on what a user is putting into a google search box... if the search is for something that is really bad for us all then I do think the results should be shared...

but then just because a person puts something into google that may be illegal, how do you know that the person is
going to do anything illegal with the results..

The really answer is for google and all search engines to block anything illegal from their
search engines in the first place... if the people looking for illegal things can't find
it then hey what can they do...

Thanks
Tom Dahne

 

[MrDude]

What a user is putting into a searxh box, wether its good or bad, wont effect anyone else but themselves, why is that really bad for us all?

Also shouldnt the title be "Bush VS Google" ?

 

[spiderden]

Here is the way I see it, Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo I guess gave it up... Google God said NO... look what happen... They are all over the news with millions of dollars worth of free advertising...

Pretty smart... cause Google don't care nothing about any of us, they never have...

 

[denny007]

Their search term database is pretty valuable asset. Thats the most valuable asset actually - why they offer so many free services - because they are collecting information. Is same like government would ask Coca Cola to give them their secret receipt...

 

[NameYourself]

Their search term database is pretty valuable asset. Thats the most valuable asset actually - why they offer so many free services - because they are collecting information. Is same like government would ask Coca Cola to give them their secret receipt...

Exactly, information is their key asset. It is just plain wrong regardless of whatever kind of slant is being used to make it sound justified.

 

[spiderden]

Exactly, information is their key asset. It is just plain wrong regardless of whatever kind of slant is being used to make it sound justified.

Maybe Google's reply should have been you share yours and we will share ours.