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from the google-sees-every-thing-YOU-look-for dept.
The U.S. government is secretly ordering Google to provide data on anyone typing in certain search terms, an accidentally unsealed court document shows. There are fears such "keyword warrants" threaten to implicate innocent Web users in serious crimes and are more common than previously thought.
While Google deals with thousands of such orders every year, the keyword warrant is one of the more contentious. In many cases, the government will already have a specific Google account that they want information on and have proof it's linked to a crime. But search term orders are effectively fishing expeditions, hoping to ensnare possible suspects whose identities the government does not know. It's not dissimilar to so-called geofence warrants, where investigators ask Google to provide information on anyone within the location of a crime scene at a given time.
[...] "Trawling through Google's search history database enables police to identify people merely based on what they might have been thinking about, for whatever reason, at some point in the past. This is a virtual dragnet through the public's interests, beliefs, opinions, values and friendships, akin to mind reading powered by the Google time machine," said Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). "This never-before-possible technique threatens First Amendment interests and will inevitably sweep up innocent people, especially if the keyword terms are not unique and the time frame not precise. To make matters worse, police are currently doing this in secret, which insulates the practice from public debate and regulation."
You can read the orders on Google here, here and here. The Microsoft and Yahoo orders can be found here and here.
Google's Methods for Spying on Employees Revealed in Report'
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:00AM (20 children)
Yeah? And then what?
(Score: 5, Informative) by bradley13 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:56AM (18 children)
You live in a (supposed) democracy. Write down your objection. Concisely, briefly, well written. Then send it to your elected officials.
I know that politicians are out of touch with reality, and many of them are corrupt. But they still have to collect those votes somehow. If enough people express enough dissatisfaction, they will pay attention.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:30AM (12 children)
Oh you a funny man.
Everybody is comedian these days.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:43AM (11 children)
OK, so writing your congress critter is mostly a joke. But, if you don't make the effort, you're part of the problem. Joke's on you, but it WHOOSHs right over your head.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:20AM (9 children)
'
Hey, how about instead, we storm the Capitol Building, overturn the election, and install Dave as precedent?
(Score: 2) by bradley13 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:55AM (5 children)
You joke, but consider the level of dissatisfaction that led to Jan 6th. Piss off enough people, and revolutions happen. The results are seldom pretty, regardless of which side wins.
Anyway, I think you should install Vermin Supreme [wikipedia.org] as President. Certainly there haven't been any better candidates for a long, long time.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:37PM (4 children)
Problem: the Jan 6 terrorists were pissed off about either (1) imaginary things, or (2) things everyone is pissed off about.
Example of (1): If Biden wins we will all be under communism! OMG! etc. (I remember: if Obama wins, they will come for your guns!)
Crazy people can create revolutions, because they are pissed off, for no good reason. They're just enraged. But they don't really know why. They were just told to be enraged. By their "reliable" news sources. Who lie to them. About election fraud (now in court to be proven false). About microchips in vaccines (hey, that's why we can't get microchips for automobiles!) About how bad "Obama care" is, then when Trump gets elected and is going to do away with the ACA, they all want the ACA, suddenly realize the ACA is Obama Care, but do they then realize they had been systematically lied to? Uh, no.
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:31PM (3 children)
What you say is absolutely true. As is what I said. Piss off enough people, and you can get a revolution. It doesn't matter why they are angry; it doesn't matter if it's rational. Anger is enough.
The schism in the US - at least as observed from abroad - appears to be approaching dangerous proportions. The people on the left think the people on the right are nuts. The people on the right think the people on the left are nuts. They are not talking to each other, and they certainly are not listening to each other.
There's already a lot of violence, though mostly on the left. The MSM kept it mostly out of the news, but the rate of violent crime following the BLM movement went through the roof. That's on the left. The right hasn't yet become violent, but that may only be because they haven't had the right event to trigger it. The situation has the feel of a powder keg, waiting for the right spark...
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:03PM (1 child)
What I seem to observe is that all of the crazy conspiracy theories are from people on the right. Thus people on the left think they are crazy.
Now I don't think all conservatives are crazy. But I don't think the right wing crazies are actually conservative -- just angry. (or crazy)
I'm not sure why those on the right think the left is crazy. I've seen postings here on SN suggesting that it is crazy to get the covid-19 vaccine injected in to your body. Etc. If that is why they think I'm crazy, I'm unlikely to take them seriously, and further think they are crazy. Feedback?
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Mykl on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:26PM
Disclaimer: I'm not American.
I think that the reason the right thinks the left is crazy is that the right are firm believers in American Exceptionalism [wikipedia.org]. They believe that America (ignore the fact that North America is shared by other nations) is the greatest country in the world just the way it is, and any attempt to change it is an attempt to tear down that greatness. Why do we need to change anything if we're the best nation on Earth? A change may mean that we fall from that lofty height!
The left is generally about change. Therefore, the left is an enemy of American Exceptionalism and is attempting to make changes that could destroy the US's status as Greatest Nation on Earthtm. You'd have to be crazy to support that, right?
The sad truth of course, obvious to anyone looking in from outside, is that the US is far, far away from being the greatest country in the world. Jeff Daniels said it well [youtube.com] (fast forward to 1:05 in the video). It's only gotten worse since then. The US is now a 3rd World Country in many parts.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Thursday October 07 2021, @12:58AM
We're still at "nothing substantial has been done to address the deaths of American citizens at the hands of law enforcement." You're talking about MSM not covering stuff but you're also griping the protests and not the cause of them, which is worsening that problem.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:41AM (1 child)
"The storming of the capitol". How many people do you suppose it would take to storm the capitol, and put all the survivors into custody? Given that the National Guard was not present, just how many do you think it would have taken? 200? 300? Maybe 500?
And, how many pissed off people were actually present? 50,000? More?
If that crowd had intended to take the capitol, it would have been theirs. God, you idiots are tiresome.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:07PM
This phrasing suggests that a person's mind is already made up, but just in case...
They had intended to take the capitol. And, as you rightly note, they succeed. They did TAKE the capitol. What you are conflating is that they they did not hold the capitol. Once an organized force came up against them, they gave up. Yes, they could have held out for hours, and probably days, but without relief, they could not hold a siege. Don't pretend their subsequent leaving in the face of inevitable defeat as them not taking the capitol.
As for the implication that they were there just to peacefully demonstrate and let their grievances be heard, have you seen the videos? Did you see the people shouting to murder politicians? Did you see the equipment they carried which could imprison and kill them? Did you hear the rhetoric of Trump (not to mention pundits on TV and radio) prior? Do you really think that was just "for fun" and not a clear and present danger?
I, for one, don't.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:32PM
dave's not here, man!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:30PM
Writing to Congress is a joke, but writing local and state-level officials can actually get stuff done.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:22AM
And how many is "enough"? Even if all of SoylentNews were to write to the same congresscritter, it wouldn't register on any relevant scale -- and that's ignoring the small detail that we don't all live in the same critter's backyard.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:55AM (1 child)
I could do that.
Or I could jack off, that way I at least got something out of it.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @11:04AM
govt is interested in exactly those actions during or after your search.
(Score: 4, Touché) by crafoo on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:59PM
Your politicians are corrupt because the people are corrupt. Some have tried to solve the real issues and have been voted out for daring to try. We are getting what we voted for: daddy government, safety, equality. Nothing is free. These all come with necessary trade-offs: freedom, self-determination, personal responsibility. When I see cops choking out random citizens I clap. This is what we voted for.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @10:37PM
But China will make me get an abortion! And Russia is in my cereal! And... Truuuuump!!!
(Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @11:43PM
Then go delete your Google search history, of course.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:03AM (5 children)
Former members of the Stasi envy today's governments. All those thousands of pens and pencils worn out, keeping meticulous details on everyone would have been prevented with the databases available today. Tens of thousands of wasted hours, trying to correlate seemingly unconnected data, all done in seconds with today's computers.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by coolgopher on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:39AM (2 children)
Yeah look, by internet rules I should be declaring that you already lost the argument by bringing this up. Except I can't, because it's not wrong. So stop it. You're paradoxing the internet.
(Score: 3, Touché) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:38AM (1 child)
As far as I know, the internet rules only declare immediate loss of argument to those who bring up Hitler or Nazi related stuff. The Stasi was neither.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by mhajicek on Wednesday October 06 2021, @11:27AM
Godwin himself said that his rule no longer applies in today's political climate.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:17PM (1 child)
Is there difference at all between a capitalist (liberal) elite and a bureaucratic elite?
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:02PM
Ideology?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:47AM (15 children)
They are chasing a pipe-bomber.
My guess is that the bomber had one too many Amazon deliveries stolen.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:27AM (7 children)
Wait... so Google has searchable and identifiable archives going at least three years back? Colour me unsurprised but still amazed. That's what they use their datacenter storage for?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:57PM (6 children)
So you're saying Google no longer has a record of all of the shockingly kinky stuff I posted more than three years ago?
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:03PM (5 children)
You might be interested in exploring the meaning of the words “at least”.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:16PM (4 children)
If google no longer has it, then there must be no record of it.
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:12PM (1 child)
There was nothing in the post you replied to that implied that Google no longer has it.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @06:26PM
Maybe I misread something. I would expect Google to keep everything forever, no matter what they publicly say. They might archive it to storage which is much slower to access, but I doubt they would ever get rid of it. Not if there is any potential way to make profit from it next year, or a hundred years from now.
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Joe Desertrat on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:18PM (1 child)
You might start to worry more about who has it now...
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:21PM
Shirley the wayback machine wood not have it. So it's all safely forgotten.
Why is it that when I hold a stick, everyone begins to look like a pinata?
(Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Wednesday October 06 2021, @09:32AM (5 children)
Nope.
https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Police-Austin-bombing-suspect-dead-after-blowing-12769711.php [chron.com]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:04PM (4 children)
So, an incel?
My policy - compulsory fucks. Vote for me!
Then again, if only we could just add something to the water to turn them gay...
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:42PM (2 children)
> Then again, if only we could just add something to the water to turn them gay...
Isn't that what the malternative beverage market is?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @03:55PM (1 child)
Aww did someone drink from lead cups as a kid? Po baby
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @04:14PM
No, that would be a Pb baby. A Po baby drank from glow-in-the-dark cups as a kid.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Thursday October 07 2021, @02:43AM
Everyone knows that only works with frogs!!
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:14PM
You refer to this guy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm2kxR4pJKc [youtube.com]
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 5, Funny) by EJ on Wednesday October 06 2021, @10:25AM
I'll just leave this here. [youtube.com]
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @12:24PM (1 child)
It side steps the feedback path where the people discuss and get an opportunity to say no.
They need a much higher bar for keeping the search request secret for an indefinite period of time.
As in the number of undisclosed warrants after a year should be countable on one hand.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Wednesday October 06 2021, @07:40PM
You are correct, and as far as I can tell the only one who actually appreciates the problem. From a civil rights standpoint, the leaked warrants are well formed. They document specific probable cause for specific evidence related to a specific crime, with limited time, window, in keeping with the searched organization's connection to the crime, and in attributable manner, with a judge reviewing and signing off on them.
The problem here isn't violation of 4th amendment protection for privacy and against fishing expeditions and 1st amendment protection of free speech, but that keeping these records secret for years, rather than months or preferably weeks removes all public accountability.
Almost every other thread is basically hyperbole that doesn't know or care what rights they actually have or when they do or do not apply.
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @01:30PM (1 child)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by EvilSS on Wednesday October 06 2021, @08:35PM
(Score: 5, Interesting) by legont on Wednesday October 06 2021, @02:13PM
First Amendment is not the biggest issue here. The real issue is countless innocents in prisons.
It works very simple. In the US 90%+ of accused never see the trail but simply accept a deal. The full punishment is so harsh that a deal is better for an innocent than a risk of a trail. So police simply asks Google to provide the list of the most promising suspects and picks up one then the court makes a deal. Very effective and profitable "law" enforcement technique.
I am sure it will be fully automated soon.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 06 2021, @05:40PM (1 child)
I wonder if duckducggo or the brave search engines also got the same orders?
(Score: 2) by number11 on Wednesday October 06 2021, @10:22PM
Wouldn't be much point. Duckduckgo, Brave, and Startpage would presumably say "gee boss, we don't have any record of that". Much the same as PIA VPN (and probably some of their no-logging compatriots) has said in court cases.