Google is giving in to an order to share data on some of its Orkut users. The company put up a good fight, but folded as the Brazilian government threatened it with fines and penalties. Still, company representatives are insisting that this is not a major loss, and that Google wants to protect users' privacy. "What they're asking for is not billions of pages," Nicole Wong, Google's associate general counsel, told Ellen Nakashima of The Washington Post. "In most cases, it's relatively discrete - small and narrow." Privacy advocates still aren't pleased with this development, however. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060905GoogleSurrendersOrkutDataToBrazil.html
Google should be more proactive in tracking down criminals on it's own. I used to run a free e-mail service which only required you pick a username and password to sign up. On the surface it was all very unassuming and anonymous. One user tried to steal personal information using a trojan that sent clipboard contents to his e-mail account on my system. I shut him off and tracked down the people that had been victimized (a couple SSNs came through with contact information) to let them know. I found the site that was responsible but the assholes running the hosting didn't care. The site was later shut down by them. Probably after getting a court order. Shortly before I shut down the service I got an e-mail from a private eye telling me a run away (about 16yo) was using my service. I checked the logs, verified the story and tracked the kid down. All the PI got was an IP and the parents got their kid back a couple days earlier. They had no idea he was planning on comming home that week anyway. There's no reason for Google not to use what it knows for good. "Do No Evil" is fine and dandy but you also can't just stand by and watch evil happen and hide behind "privacy." Google has every right to look through their own logs and find problem people.
Kalvin, unfortunately it isnt Google's responsibility or prerogative to analyse their data for tracking criminal or illegal activity. And besides that, with the amount of data they have, it would probably take hundreds of years to process. Its ironic because I posted in Google's defence a few hours ago but after reading the countless stories of terrorist activity, drug dealing and child pornography that flows through Orkut its shameful that Google didnt turn it over in an instant. As long as all the data they hand over is relevant to any criminal activity then they should do exactly as requested.
I don't see the big deal, companies doing business in the US have to submit information when presented with court papers to do so, why should it be different outside the United States.
Huge difference. If done in the US, its in relation to some crime. Here, in Brazil's case - its more of a curiosity search looking for people who may have committed a crime.
And in the US, court papers aren't needed any more for most services. If the White House is curious, it gets the material - from Yahoo and MSN, anyway. Google demands court papers and should be praised for that at least.