From AP, via Richmond Times Dispatch:
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google Inc. is rebuffing the Bush administration's demand for a peek at what millions of people have been looking up on the Internet's leading search engine - a request that underscores the potential for online databases to become tools for government surveillance.
snip...
The government wants a list all requests entered into Google's search engine during an unspecified single week - a breakdown that could conceivably span tens of millions of queries. In addition, it seeks 1 million randomly selected Web addresses from various Google databases.
In court papers that the San Jose Mercury News reported on after seeing them Wednesday, the Bush administration depicts the information as vital in its effort to restore online child protection laws that have been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The administration's position seems to be that they 'need' these records in order to determine how frequently porn comes up in various google searches. Now I'm no lawyer, but this argument seems very weak to me. Can't the government's own goons do this research for themselves? Sit a few lackeys down in front of some PC's and give them a list of several hudred terms to google and take a look at the results.
So, since any 8th grader can figure out that the feds don't need Google customers' search data in order to get ahold of the statistical info they claim they're looking for, what do they really want this information for? Are they really after this particular bit of information or are they merely using this as an opportunity to set a precedent which will allow them to supoena search engine records for other purposes in the future?
Given the recent revelations regarding the federal governments willingness to run roughshod all over laws designed to protect the privacy of Americans from government snooping, I'm hopeful that the courts will tell the Bush administration go shove it.
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