Skip to main content

Google Spurns DOJ Search Data Subpoena

Search giant Google has refused to comply with a White House subpoena demanding one week’s worth of search engine strings submitted to the Google search engine, even though the government isn’t asking for any additional information which could be used to identify Google users, although it also wants a list of 1 million random Web addresses included in Google’s search index.

The subpoena was first issued in the summer of 2005 as part of the federal government’s effort to restore 1998’s Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The COPA statute criminalizes posting free online material deemed “harmful to minors,” providing penalties of up to $50,000 per day and six months in prison.COPA was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others, and the case now awaits trial after having twice been sent back to lower courts by the U.S. Supreme Court. The ACLU and others argue COPA violates First Amendment free speech rights, and non-legislative solutions (such as filtering and kids-safe service) offer effective ways to protect children online without resorting to authoritarian measures.

Recommended Videos

The Department of Justice is seeking data on search engine usage to prepare part of its defense of COPA, and claims it needs the search data to understand Web user behavior and estimate how often typical Web users encounter material which would be considered harmful to minors. It also sought similar data from Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL: Yahoo and AOL report they have complied, and the ACLU reports that Microsoft also complied. The Department of Justice and Google have been negotiating for some time, resulting in the DOJ substantially reducing the amount of information it was requesting from Google; it’s not known at this time whether other search engines complied with the original DOJ request or negotiated their own disclosures.

Google counters that it is not party to the COPA case before the courts and the subpoena is overly broad. Privacy advocates note many search strings themselves often contain personally identifiable information such as addresses and names, and that the government is effectively demanding Google perform as its research lab, subpoenaing data for research into a case with which it has no involvement rather than subpoenaing evidence.

The Department of Justice has asked a San Jose judge to order Google to comply with its subpoena.

Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
Can Google’s new AI experiment help me learn a language?
AI translation on Android phone.

I've lived in Germany for around a decade now, and an enduring source of shame for me is my rather underwhelming German language skills. Like many language learners, I've reached the point where I can understand what's said to me, make casual conversation, and handle everyday situations, but I've never really achieved the level of comfort with the language and the breadth of vocabulary that's required for true fluency.

I'd love to improve my language skills, but I've struggled to commit the time and resources for intensive classes. But perhaps there's a solution hiding in plain sight on my phone.

Read more
You can now interact with Google’s AI Mode in search results
Google AI Mode

Google has been working on adding more AI features to its Search feature, and now an integrated AI Mode is being rolled out to the public. Different from the AI Overview function that Google has included as a default part of Search since last year, the AI Mode is a chatbot which users can interact with as part of their search results.

AI Mode has previously only been available as a Google Labs experiment, but now Google says that it will be coming to search for "a small percentage of people" in the U.S. over the coming weeks. Those who are part of the test will see an "AI Mode" tab in Search, and clicking on it will bring up information related to your search from the chatbot.

Read more
Google coming for Duolingo as it launches language learning feature
Google's Little Language Lessons

Learning a new language is one of those goals that many people share, but is hard to achieve in practice. Tools like Duolingo have gained popularity by gamifing the language learning experience, but now Google has taken its own approach, rolling out an experimental set of playful language learning tools powered by its Gemini AI.

Google describes the new feature, called Little Language Lessons, as "a collection of three bite-sized learning experiments, all powered by Google’s Gemini models." The idea is to tweak language tips to the particular context you're currently in -- such as visiting a restaurant, taking a flight, or dealing with a travel problem like a lost passport.

Read more