Big Brother is Online
February 9th, 2006 by Bob Bly
According to an article in InformationWeek (1/23/06, p. 17), the Justice Department wants Google to turn over records on millions of searches by people who look at porn online. The goal: protect children.
Google does not want to cooperate in that this violates people’s privacy. It also erodes their trust in Google, which could hurt the company’s market share.
I am torn. Being a parent, I put kids first. But the government has no business looking at what I look at on the Internet.
Do you think Google’s records should be kept confidential … or turned over to the Justice Department to shield kids from online porn?
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at 2:01 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
February 9th, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Technology is widely available that allows parents the power to monitor a child’s computer and take appropriate actions within their own homes. It is unfortunate that not enough parents take their responsibilities seriously. However, the government has far better things to do than monitor Google’s porn searches.
Joel
February 9th, 2006 at 4:10 pm
It would be interesting to hear, how exactly would this protect anyone…
February 9th, 2006 at 9:37 pm
It seems a convenient way to create the precedent to access Google’s records. Not many people are going to line up to be the first to come out on the side of child pornographers to harm children. In related news - sex offenders are being released from prison early in my state because the prison system is overloaded.
February 9th, 2006 at 11:13 pm
I’m not sure I understand why the feds would need this - to prove that people search for porn online? If that’s what they want to know, there is a much easier way to get the data. The Feds should just get the “top 300″ report from www.wordtracker.com, a service used by search engine marketers. Porn related terms dominate the list! I used to work for Netscape, and the weekly report of top searches at Netscape.com was also dominated by porn terms.
February 11th, 2006 at 4:40 am
I think this is long overdue, and the government has been remiss in not taking action earlier. Such intrusiveness, however, does entail the responsibility to use the disclosures only for criminal prosecution, and to destroy any data that does not pertain to crimes. I would support firewalls, and perhaps even “in camera” judicial review of the information gathered in this way. The obvious danger is that J. Edgar Hoover wannabes will use the information for personal or political purposes.
February 11th, 2006 at 5:33 am
NO. It’s not the Justice Dept.’s job to “protect” children from porn. That is a parents job. It isn’t the governments business what we as citizens view on the internet, read in publications or check out of the library. What is next? They already have access to everyone’s financial records through FinCen (if they want them), and can spy and eavesdrop without a warrant. What is next? This is a fishing expedition. They should be spending their time doing more pressing things.
February 11th, 2006 at 11:23 am
Surely there’s room here for a procedure requiring a warrant for probable cause. Such a warrant now allows police to seize a suspect’s computer, files, bank account information, and so on. So I don’t see why the government needs such a free hand to ransack Google’s records. Once given that power, an official can rationalize all sorts of needless “inquiries.”
Privacy vs. general security is always a tussle, but lately privacy has been taking it in the proboscis. We need to start drawing the line.
February 12th, 2006 at 11:32 am
Bob, I wave to surveillance cameras and say hello to wire tappers
But if really bothers you, check out http://www.anonymizer.com/
February 16th, 2006 at 12:03 pm
Honestly, I don’t care. People wouldn’t be looking at it, computers would be (same as the “wire tapping” that is all the rage). Unless certain key words took it up to analysts view, then no one would see your searches.
Do I want the authorities to know people who are looking for kiddie porn? Youbetcha!
Privacy is an illusion anyway….
May 9th, 2006 at 3:33 am
The interesting thought is to know HOW the government is going to use this information in order to protect the kids.
I have 2 kids and soon they will be start browsing the web and the issue is compelling but these measures are plain useless and just a show of the kind of control people want to put on the internet.
June 27th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I know many will disagree, but I believe in free speech. Viewing child porn does not harm children. In fact there are legitimate reasons for doing it, such as:
1> Someone who wants to make a compelling move/write a book on the subject.
2> Vigilantes who want to protect children (Eg dateline, NBC)
3> Psychologists studying the effects on children
4> Merely curious people who have no urge to hurt children but want ot exeercise their first amendment rights to free speech.
Would you like it if the government outlaed porn altother like they do in many countries? One could argue that like in the case of prostitution, these people are exploited.
How far do you want your civil liberties breached?
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:19 am
My main concern is that you can’t guarantee every page of your website will be included in the SERPs. Considering I’m constantly adding new products to my company’s website, I need to be sure that customers can find them as soon as possible.http://www.seoptimizerz.com