Google Spy Net

Google Spy Net

Google is building the world’s largest private, for profit, spy network.

The dictionary definition to spy is:

spy Pronunciation Key (sp(image placeholder))n. pl. spies (sp(image placeholder)z)

1. An agent employed by a state to obtain secret information, especially of a military nature, concerning its potential or actual enemies.


2. One employed by a company to obtain confidential information about its competitors.


3. One who secretly keeps watch on another or others.


4. An act of spying.

v. spied, (sp(image placeholder)d) spy·ing, spies (sp(image placeholder)z) v. tr.

1. To observe secretly with hostile intent.


2. To discover by close observation.


3. To catch sight of: spied the ship on the horizon.


4. To investigate intensively.

v. intr.

1. To engage in espionage.


2. To seek or observe something secretly and closely.


3. To make a careful investigation: spying into other people's activities.

Google has a large number of servers in many cities and countries sharing data using distributed processing and the Ultra Large File system.

Google monitors and records the IP address of searchers, keywords searched for, plus any available cookie data, and links navigated to via “click-thru’s.”

Other tools Google produces for free download like Picasa, Google Toolbar, Gmail, GTalk and others are surveillance tools. Gmail records who knows who, who writes what to whom, and who networks with whom based upon their invitation subscription service. GTalk records conversations between parties.

Data is an inanimate object like a rock or screwdriver, and as such it is amoral, without morality. An inanimate object is neither good nor bad, on it’s own it does nothing but decay over time. Morailty is correctly applied to the usage of an inanimate object, by an animate user.

What is data today may be evidence tomorrow as the law becomes increasingly fungible in the modern, complex legal environment.

All users should be aware of what Google is doing. The data freely and perhaps naively given will be available for a long time to come. The author makes no judgment on whether this is good or bad, only that it has gone on along time, and will continue into the future.

Here is an update on some of these items of concern:

• http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6034666.html
• http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/04/1426250

The Google Subpoena

The Google Subpoena

Who, What, When, Where, How and Why are the questions to be answered when solving a crime. Who did it? When was it done? Where did the crime occur? How, by what means, was the crime accomplished. Why provides the motive for the crime’s commission. These are the questions answered by law enforcement for presentation to a jury. It is also the data collected by major search engine during their operation. It provides a fertile ground for data mining.

Google is the largest of the search engine providers today, and as the largest, they have a treasure trove of data collected from millions of internet users and billions of web pages, images, e-mail, documents, news postings, blogs and videos.

The recent Federal subpoena of Google is the first wave of judicial assault on this freely collected, and freely given content. The richness of the trove became too great for the bureaucrats to resist. The justification for the subpoena is a 1998 child pornography law. The subpoena was issued in the name of Alberto Gonzalez, United States Attorney General.

Following the logic that the eyes seek what the heart desires, the Justice Department seeks access to millions of records from the Google database.

Google made their money the old fashioned way, by earning it in the marketplace. They built a search engine using a branch of mathematics known as Graph Theory. Graph Theory draws connections between events, just like real world detectives do gathering evidence. Every search using Google records the IP address, the search terms input and potentially the identity of the user, in their database. Click through behavior is also logged since it is the basis of their advertising revenue stream. Many other connections can be drawn depending on the level of usage from many of their tools like Picasa for images, Blogger for web logging, and a network graph of associates via GMail.

This action was inevitable as the Federal leviathan cannot keep its’ hands off of private sector assets. They are drawn like the bee to honey. Google, with a market valuation of $118 billion dollars is an attractive pot full.

Google was not alone in this indictment. Yahoo, MSN and AOL were also subpoenaed, and complied without a fuss, as a matter of corporate policy. Google on the other hand is fighting back. They have resisted, citing protection of proprietary technology, in their response to the suit.

Google did not resist the subpoena based upon principle like the Freedom of Speech or Privacy Protection of their users. They do not deny that they are collecting this data.

This subpoena is trolling for evidence absent a crime. The Attorney General is sure that a crime is lurking within these search engine data mines. He just does not know what crime and by whom it was perpetrated
The days of anonymity on the Internet are over. This subpoena is the first shot over the bow of private enterprise that any and all information is available to the state. The Google model is “Don’t be evil.” They can demonstrate a principled adherence to this by vigorously resisting this egregious attack on First Amendment principles.

To find copious references just “Google” the keywords Google, subpoena, justice.