In a case of self-interest serving the public interest, Google has forced the feds to back down from their earlier demands for massive amounts of search data, and in the process has made its rivals AOL, Yahoo and MSN look like, well, simpering saps. The Justice Department retreated from its earlier demand of Google that it turn over one million web site addresses and one week’s worth of individual search queries and instead has asked for a sample of 50,000 web site addresses and 5,000 search queries.
The DOJ raised a true privacy scare when it subpoenaed Google, AOL, Yahoo and MSN for massive amounts of search data in its hunt for quantitative justification for reviving the now-defunct Child Online Protection Act. Privacy advocates feared that the federal government was eyeing the Internet as an easy source of data to bolster its legal initiatives.
Alone among the companies subpoenaed by the government, Google fought back, citing privacy concerns as well as fears that the search giant’s trade secrets might be revealed in such a large data request. While Google no doubt feared for its users’ privacy, many believed that Google’s true motivation in spurning the DOJ’s demands was to protect its trade secrets.
Whatever the case may be, Google did good by not simply rolling over and giving the government what it wanted, which, presumably, AOL, Yahoo and MSN did.
Aden J. Fine, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, was more optimistic. “The mere fact that Google has stood up to the government is a positive thing,” Mr. Fine said. “The government cannot simply demand that third parties give information without providing a sufficient justification for why they need it, and that’s the theme that will hopefully resonate from this hearing, whichever way the judge rules.”
The new reduced data request goes a long way toward appeasing Google’s concerns. One Google attorney suggested that the government should have tried to minimize its demands in the first place.
The new request substantially mitigates Google’s concerns over trade secrets, Mr. Gidari [Google attorney Albert Gidari] said, adding that “99.99 percent of Google is unexposed, and this teeny sliver will tell them nothing.” “This would have been a very different case if the government walked in the door and said, ‘We need 50,000 U.R.L.’s and a thousand searches,’ ” Mr. Gidari said. “It’s doubtful we would have been in court. We got to where we wanted.”
Cynthia Brumfield at 7:17 AM|Comments(1)
When Google says they're concerned for their user's privacy, I really do think that is their chief concern. Google is betting huge sums on money on users storing their bookmarks and search history (and later, ALL of their files) on Google's servers. If the DOJ got its way, and millions of people had their security compromised because of that, there could be a huge backlash and all of Google's plans would be set back for years and years. Growth would slow and the stock price would collapse (Google's stock price today is dependent on very fast growth during the next 5 years).
Lastly, Google is an idealistic company. The DOJ's request was bogus and overreaching, and I can really see the Google guys fighting this one on the principle of not giving in to stupidity. They're smart and arrogant, but that means they have little tolerance for abusive morons. It probably brings back less than fond memories of middle school. :-)
Posted by: Brock at March 15, 2006 9:43 AM
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