US government demands search query data from Google

The US Department of Justice (USDoJ) demands search query data from Google. The USDoJ wants “the text of each search string entered onto Google’s search engine over a one-week period (absent any information identifying the person who entered the query)” and “a multi-stage random sample of one million URL’s” from Google’s database (PDF).

The data from Google shall help the USDoJ with an observation and analysis of pornographic Internet content and additionally with the reassessment of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA). The government is interested in gaining insight into Internet user behavior, for example in order to estimate the extent to which users are exposed to online material harmful to minors. Another task is the evaluation of the effectiveness of filtering software.

The first reaction from the Internet community came really quick:

Patriot Search is the first search engine that tracks everything you search and sends it straight to the government, ensuring that you are making the world a safer place by avoiding any “privacy”. You can even use advanced search operators like “terrorist:false” to indicate you are not a terrorist.

A very funny piece of text is the Patriot Search’s mission statement :

Other search engines often do not share your data immediately upon government request, thereby endangering the safety of your country and the well-being of you and your family. In a specific recent case, only 4 out of 5 search engines allowed the government to see “private” user data!