Bush Lawyers Ask Judge To Make Google Hand Over Search Records

[eyedomainous]

Feds want Google search records
GOOGLE PROMISES A FIGHT
By Howard Mintz - Mercury News
[url]http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/13657386.htm[/URL]

If the Bush lawyers succeed it will alter the relationship between search engines and the general public, in my view. At the moment most folks do not realize that, unlike most search engines, Google keeps a record of every search You ever made. If this info. becomes public knowledge... as it most likely will if the Bush admin. pursues this angle, which is not the focus of this particular trial, I think folks will start using Yahoo and other SEs that do not archive every search & ip.

Then again, perhaps this case will motivate Google to dump ip search data on a regular basis... otherwise they may be targeted by companies seeking info on employee searches, spouses seeking proof-of-porn / escort et al searches for divorce court proceedings... etc. ect.

 

[nick-8318]

Google needs to stand up and refuse to give any record away,
there a business, let them do whatever they want

 

[gamehouse]

Hey,

You seem to forget that they are publicly traded company. I do not think they can do what ever they want to do.

Personally, I do not like my ips and search data stored for ever. :imho:

Gamehouse

Google needs to stand up and refuse to give any record away,
there a business, let them do whatever they want

 

[Dave_Z]

A new battle has begun. As if we have enough battles already...

 

[robertjr]

Ahh...

Time to dump the G-Stock

OK, not quite yet, but this could hurt a bit.

 

[cyberoptik]

Hm.... yet another reason to be anti-Bush?

 

[gamehouse]

Interesting you said that

Ahh...

Time to dump the G-Stock

OK, not quite yet, but this could hurt a bit.

A news item from businessweek

Business Week
Scott Kessler, the technology group head for Standard & Poor's Equity Research who recently downgraded Google's stock to "sell" from "hold," spoke with Business Week about his reasons for doing so. He says investors should know the ABCs of Google risk. "A" is for absence, as in absence of revenue diversification. Google is a one-trick pony, generating 99 percent of its revenue from search and contextual advertising. "B" is for building competition--as in, competition that's growing. Even though it has several Internet revenue streams, Yahoo! has invested enormously in search and will continue to compete aggressively. Microsoft this year is set to roll out its long-awaited advertising system adCenter, which should mark the software giant's shift of focus to Internet advertising. AskJeeves is also said to be pursuing its own Internet search advertising strategy. Google should also beware of MySpace owner Fox Interactive Media, which has continued to grow and grow since parent News Corp. acquired it last summer. Fox Interactive has said it will go into Internet search, which is a very daunting prospect for Google considering MySpace's size. The question is how the company will go about it--and the answer is likely to be an acquisition or partnership, which obviously won't include Google. Lastly (and fittingly), "C" is for click fraud. God only knows how a big a problem this really is. A recent study says up to 30 percent of online clicks could be fraudulent; other studies are all over the map. This will definitely affect how advertisers feel about search spending. Essentially, Kessler says his downgrade of Google is about overvaluation and risk

Link:
http://www.businessweek.com/investo...9_9734_pi044.htm?campaign_id=topStories_ssi_5

Gamehouse

 

[Fewski]

I don't think it's to big of a deal... Does anyone know what they use the information for? There are millions of people that use Google, what would they want with everyones IP and searches?

 

[Klaas Koopman]

google said no, so stay with google, why not!

 

[MichaelV.]

i can see the benefits of why they want to do this, but i also dont want my personal habits or information being known, not that im doing anything illegal, but its my privacy

 

[nts]

Time to use Yahoo.. There goes Google :td:

Unfortunatly Yahoo was asked too and gave partial info to the gov. MSN and AOL gave full info to the government. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6028701.html

I hope google fights this and wins.

 

[Zeeble]

I did not know that Google kept a record of the activity of every IP. If, that is in fact the case, we all legally (in the UK at least) should have free access to this data under the data protection act 1998 and this right can be enforced through any County Court. If you want more info, just visit this page:
http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=1037&expmovie=1