Google Refuses White House Search Request
Simon Jeffery and agencies
Guardian Unlimited, UK
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Google is resisting a White House subpoena to hand over the records of the searches internet users are asking it to perform, it has emerged.
The request was first made last summer, but when California-based Google refused to comply, the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, lodged papers with a federal judge in San Jose to enforce the order. 
The White House argues that a list of all requests entered into its search engine over a single week - which could span tens of millions of queries - will help it build up a profile of internet use it needs to defend an online pornography law.
It also wants a million randomly selected addresses from the index of websites that Google searches.The papers said Google's search record "would assist the government in its efforts to understand the behavior of current web users [and] to estimate how often web users encounter harmful-to-minors material in the course of their searches".
The Bush administration insists it does not want to tie the search requests to the person or computer that made them but the subpoena has nevertheless raised serious privacy concerns.
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See Also:
The allure of Google's data ...
Google is right to fight Justice Department
What does the Google subpoena mean?
Feds eye Google search records
Google clashes with Bush govt on privacy
Search engines forced to divulge users
Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL gave government data on Web searches
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Ashok Ramani, Google's lawyer, replied in a letter to the White House that the internet giant - whose corporate motto is "Don't be evil" - would not hand over its records.
"Google's acceding to the request would suggest that it is willing to reveal information about those who use its services. This is not a perception that Google can accept."
He added that the subpoena also threatened to expose some of Google's "crown-jewel trade secrets".
Google is concerned that its requests could be used to deduce the size of its index and how many computers it uses.
"This information would be highly valuable to competitors or miscreants seeking to harm Google's business," Mr Ramani wrote.
Jan 20, 2006
Simon Jeffery and agencies
Guardian Unlimited, UK
__________________
Google is resisting a White House subpoena to hand over the records of the searches internet users are asking it to perform, it has emerged.
The request was first made last summer, but when California-based Google refused to comply, the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, lodged papers with a federal judge in San Jose to enforce the order.
The White House argues that a list of all requests entered into its search engine over a single week - which could span tens of millions of queries - will help it build up a profile of internet use it needs to defend an online pornography law.
It also wants a million randomly selected addresses from the index of websites that Google searches.The papers said Google's search record "would assist the government in its efforts to understand the behavior of current web users [and] to estimate how often web users encounter harmful-to-minors material in the course of their searches".
The Bush administration insists it does not want to tie the search requests to the person or computer that made them but the subpoena has nevertheless raised serious privacy concerns.
___________________________
See Also:
The allure of Google's data ...
Google is right to fight Justice Department
What does the Google subpoena mean?
Feds eye Google search records
Google clashes with Bush govt on privacy
Search engines forced to divulge users
Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL gave government data on Web searches
___________________________
Ashok Ramani, Google's lawyer, replied in a letter to the White House that the internet giant - whose corporate motto is "Don't be evil" - would not hand over its records.
"Google's acceding to the request would suggest that it is willing to reveal information about those who use its services. This is not a perception that Google can accept."
He added that the subpoena also threatened to expose some of Google's "crown-jewel trade secrets".
Google is concerned that its requests could be used to deduce the size of its index and how many computers it uses.
"This information would be highly valuable to competitors or miscreants seeking to harm Google's business," Mr Ramani wrote.
Jan 20, 2006
