Google throws out US data demand
BBC News
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Google has formally rejected a demand from the US government to hand over a week's worth of search records.
The rejection was made in court documents Google filed in response to official demands for search data. In the strongly-worded papers Google said the request would violate the privacy of its users and reveal trade secrets to its rivals.
It also added that handing over the data was impractical and would not accomplish what the government wanted. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) made the request for a week's worth of search records in late January. It made similar requests of other big net firms such as Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL.
Initially, Google resisted the request from the DoJ and in court documents filed over the weekend has formally rejected it. The 25 page document uses strong language to criticise the request for a list of the search terms used in a typical week.
The document expressed its disbelief in US goverment assertions that the list of search words would help understand user behaviour. "This statement is so uninformed as to be nonsensical," comments the document.
feb 20, 2006
BBC News
_______
Google has formally rejected a demand from the US government to hand over a week's worth of search records.
The rejection was made in court documents Google filed in response to official demands for search data. In the strongly-worded papers Google said the request would violate the privacy of its users and reveal trade secrets to its rivals.
It also added that handing over the data was impractical and would not accomplish what the government wanted. The US Department of Justice (DoJ) made the request for a week's worth of search records in late January. It made similar requests of other big net firms such as Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL.
Initially, Google resisted the request from the DoJ and in court documents filed over the weekend has formally rejected it. The 25 page document uses strong language to criticise the request for a list of the search terms used in a typical week.
The document expressed its disbelief in US goverment assertions that the list of search words would help understand user behaviour. "This statement is so uninformed as to be nonsensical," comments the document.
feb 20, 2006
