What can Google's Query Data be Used for?

Last night I was chatting with some Google engineers at the 'plex during the Google Dance and the subject of a recent visit by a DARPA Net employee came up.

This person, a highly connected government/military employee had apparently been visiting Google in the hopes of getting access to their user query data. It was his supposition that this data could help the government literally predict dates and locations of terrorist attacks. Google said no and apparently, the matter was dropped.

My question is, should Google be obligated to release this information to the government? Should they do so freely?

Is this a slippery slope? Could that same information easily be used by the party in power to remain in power ad infinitum, could it be used to control opinion, thought and free action throughout the US or the world?

Just interested in seeing what this thorny issue brings up.

Um...slippery slope indeed. Suppose that such a request was honored, and all of a sudden gov't "inspectors" were coursing thru Google's dbase, looking for terrorist items.

How long before they noticed counterfeit items, selling arms items, drug shipment items....etc. etc.

Think they'd "ignore" same? Not me....and then it'd be tax evasion items, non-payment of parking tickets items, cursing your boss items....etc. etc.....as the slope steepens...

Privacy has to start somewhere, I'd say...so why not at the TOP of the slope....

So, I agree with G this time...keep those guys out...

Jim

Since I try to avoid politics at all costs, I'm not up to speed on the ins and outs of the Patriot Act, but my limited knowledge tells me that if the government was so inclined, they could use the Patriot Act to get the info if they really wanted it. I think, in this day and age, we pretty much no longer have the rights we once had (limited as they might have been previously). Google may be able to shoo them away for now, but if the top echelon decides its a must, I think G will have to give in. Disclaimer: i may be wrong!

Donna,

Thankfully, for now; you're wrong. The law doesn't extend that far, yet. One of the other concerns that folks have mentioned to me is that the powers that be could make sure they stayed that way indefinitely by using savvy PR and targeted news/speeches/etc. to bombard any regions of the country/state where they saw confidence wavering. Undoubtedly it would be easy to predict elections based on Google's query data, making for a dangerously controlled population.

Glad to be wrong, rand!