Google to hand over data to US
In a case watched for its implications for privacy on the Internet, US District Court Judge James Ware said he would decide "very quickly" and that he was inclined to give the government "something."
Ware left unclear to what extent he would order Google to bend to the will of the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
Ware was assured by lawyers in court that the DoJ was not seeking personal information about online searchers, only a cross-sampling of "URLs," or website addresses generated in responses to queries.
The hearing was prompted by Google’s refusal to comply with a subpoena ordering it to give the government a week’s worth of records about online searches.
Authorities want the information as ammunition in a legal fight to revive an overturned 1998 statute making it a crime for websites to allow minors access to adult material online such as pornography.
The government wants the information to bolster an effort to resurrect the law, which it contends made it tougher for minors to access pornography on the Internet.
The Child Online Protection Act was deemed unconstitutionally broad when it was struck down in court about two years ago.
Google’s lawyers argued that the government was demanding private user search information as well as Google technology while refusing to share the mechanics of what it intends to do with the data.
The information demanded by the government "is potentially relevant," said Aden Fine, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued for Google.
"We just can’t tell because the government won’t give us enough information."
The Justice Department intended to use the data, which other Internet search engines have already yielded, for a statistical study of how much pornography sought online was deemed "harmful to minors," Assistant US Attorney Joel McElvain said.
Google’s lawyer argued it was not simply a case of protecting the privacy rights of Internet users, but that Google trade secrets were at risk because the government was asking for technical information to sort the research data.
Ware said it appeared that the information was relevant because the DoJ needed it to test the efficacy of Internet search filters intended to prevent children from accessing online pornography.
The judge questioned whether an Internet search should be treated as a private act.
"People who go searching on the World Wide Web are, essentially, exposing for the world that they want the information," Ware said during the hearing.
The DoJ had "vastly" scaled backed its initial request for data, trimming it from two months’ worth of data to approximately 5,000 queries, lawyers agreed in court.
Ware suggested the DoJ might be obligated to pay Google for the information. Google said it would take a team of engineers to glean the data for the DoJ.
The judge asked pointed questions about whether the request would represent an undue burden on Google.
Ware said he was "reticent" to rule on the relevance of the DoJ demand and that the case came down to the DoJ wanting the search data so it could test child-safe content filters.
Google has accused the government of abusing its power by dragging the company into a legal battle in which it is not directly involved.
Ware ended the morning hearing taking the matter under submission and can release a decision at his discretion.
Although the data requested from Google would not intentionally identify individual users, there are concerns that by acceding to the subpoena, Google would open the door to demands for more personal information in the future.
Privacy rights advocates, such as the ACLU, have weighed in due to fears the case could set a precedent making it easier for the government to mine Internet businesses for information about people.
Inet-Bridge || Discuss this article
Loading ...