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January 19, 2006
Government seeks information on usage of online porn
When the government comes looking for information about people's connections with known or suspected terrorists, the average American thinks, "This isn't about me."
But when law enforcement agencies come looking for information about the use of online pornography, the number of people who might be concerned almost certainly gets larger.
That's why it's so interesting that the Justice Department has asked a judge (story from the San Jose Mercury News) to order Google to turn over information about searches for online pornography. As far as I can tell, the department is not asking for personally identifiable information about any searcher for porn; the department is seeking to quantify porn searches, in order to to revive an Internet child protection law struck down two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, a Google spokesperson says the company will "vigorously" contest the government's request. And the Mercury News quotes a privacy consultant who nicely captures the potential concern of millions of Americans who view porn online:
``This is exactly the kind of case that privacy advocates have long feared,'' said Ray Everett-Church, a South Bay privacy consultant. ``The idea that these massive databases are being thrown open to anyone with a court document is the worst-case scenario. If they lose this fight, consumers will think twice about letting Google deep into their lives.''
The Justice Department says it needs this information to defend the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act. The Supreme Court struck down the law in 2004, saying it was too broad and could prevent adults from accessing legal content sites.
The Mercury News also makes available a PDF file of the Justice Department motion. It's also the topic of the newspaper's Silicon Beat blog.
Posted by Rich Gordon at January 19, 2006 12:59 PM
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