Bane Macleod

Opinon: Gonzales vs Google [Long]

In a motion filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, California, US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is attempting to force Google to comply with a previously issued subpoena asking for data on a time frame of search results and a random sampling of URLs.

When Google responded in the negative to the government subpoena it was not only about trade secrets. It was about millions upon millions of people who use Google services daily. Everything from our search queries and surfing habits, photos and emails, instant messages and address books are all stored on Google servers. It's really remarkable when you think about it to see just how much information we are allowing one company to have about us.

Let's look at the facts. The government is not asking for the results of a study. It is not asking for pornographic material. It is asking for a broad and all encompassing result of all searches made within a time period and personally identifiable data on the users that made those searches. It is also asking for a random sampling of 1 million URLs. Why is all this information needed by the government? Why has the government asked for all this information in an attempt to revive a law that has been struck down twice?

Precedent.

When the court looks at a case one of the first things examined is precedent. Has this been done before? How have the courts previously ruled in similar cases? Have similar arguments been successful in the past?

Lets fast forward to 2007. President Bush in an attempt to protect the American citizens from Terrorism requests a random sampling of 1 million emails and personally identifiable information from those emails. Ludicrous? Perhaps not. After all, similar information was given out in the past and companies like Google and Yahoo have already been forced to hand over the data to the government. Precedent would be on the Attorney Generals side.

When the United States government requested the information from Google it wasn't just about reinforcing yet another law of questionable benefit. It was about setting a dangerous precedent. That the United States Government and the administration that has shown no restraint on the monitoring of its people could now subpoena private information from the worlds preeminent holder of said information for whatever reason.

The AG office is now suing Google in an attempt to force them to supply the information. Microsoft and Yahoo have already handed over the requested information to the government, and the "do no evil" Googlers are at least attempting to live up to their motto. We can only hope that Google wins this fight. Our lives on the internet are remarkably transparent.

As Bush and company move further and further away from personal liberties and freedoms Big Brother seems more of a uncomfortable reality than a distant catchphrase. I'd like to suggest that everyone pay particular attention to Gonzales vs. Google, as it shapes up to define the internet's privacy policy for years to come.