The US Government Calls Google's Bluff

Earlier this month, Google rejected the United States Department of Justice's request for search data. The DOJ had made similar requests to Yahoo, MSN and AOL, all of which complied but Google strongly rejected arguing that the disclosure of the information could give competitors insight into its user habits. In a latest move, the government has rejected Google's assertion that a government subpoena for search data threatens the privacy of Internet users.

"The government has not asked Google to produce any information that would personally identify its users," according to the DoJ's response filed Friday in a San Jose court.

According to Google, "Users trust that when they enter a search query into a Google search box, not only will they receive back the most relevant results, but that Google will keep private whatever information users communicate.". The government's response is that Google's objections are "meritless."

By collecting data from search engines, the government hopes to add to its study in support of protecting children from pornography. They are only requesting sample URLs and search queries and not personal information on searchers themselves.

"No individual user of Google, or of any other search engine, need fear that his or her personal identifying will be disclosed," according to the government's brief. Even search engine expert Danny Sullivan agreed to this in a recent interview conducted with ABC's Nightline.

The InternetNews.com story provides a more detailed analysis. Until then, we will have to see what the courts decide in this battle between Google and the US Government.