Feds compromise with Google on search queries

Submitted by acohill on Mon, 03/20/2006 - 10:26

The Federal government has reached a compromise with Google on the government's request to Google to turn over a chunk of search queries. The Feds claim they need to see what people are searching for so that they can design better child pornography laws.

A federal judge has ordered Google to turn over the URLs (Web addresses) of some of the sites Google indexes, but not the search queries that people type in on the search engine.

Privacy advocates feel this is a reasonable compromise. I can agree with them in the narrow sense that it protects individual privacy rights better, but I still think the whole thing stinks. Since when does the federal government have the right to simply tell a privately owned business, "We want your data?" The only possible justification for a demand like that might be an issue of national security, but this particular demand is wrapped up in the politician's standard mantra, "It's for the kids."

Child pornography is horrendous, and those who traffic in it should be vigorously prosecuted. But surely someone in government is smart enough to figure out how to do that without trampling the rights of private businesses. This ruling sets a precedent--rest assured we will see the government trying to get the records and confidential information of other businesses in the future, on even more flimsy justification. Readers of this blog know that I am no fan of Google, but in this case, I think the company has gotten the short end of the stick.