Is Google’s Massive Database a Security Risk? - Who Seeks Information? And Why?
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Some civil libertarians are most worried about the concentration of personal data under one digital roof. This could make Google an impossible-to-resist target for law enforcement officials, prepared with subpoenas in hand. Personal and sensitive information collected for particular investigations could later become public – for example, through court filings – even when the information concerns people who aren’t even targeted by the investigation.
To Google’s credit, it actively looks for feedback from civil liberties groups such as the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. While both groups have said that Google doesn’t always agree with them, they do admit that the search engine at least listens to their point of view. Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel at Google, stated that privacy concerns are a priority at the company. “In general, as a company, we look at privacy from design all the way (through) launch,” she told the Associated Press.
But you cannot expect a company to block the lawman from its records. According to Wong, Google will surrender data if it receives a subpoena, court order, or warrant. How many of these “requests” does the company receive? Wong is silent on that matter. Indeed, Google cannot legally disclose any requests for information that relate to national security, thanks to a federal law.
Some of us may feel we have nothing to hide from the law, but it isn’t just “the right side of the law” we need to worry about. A casual glimpse at the news over the past few months reveals several high-profile security breaches at firms such as banks and credit card firms. Malicious hackers broke into company databases and managed to steal information about customers – information that they could use for anything from blackmail to identity theft. Just how secure are Google’s servers?
This question is far from idle. Like Microsoft, Google is such a large company that even its rivals could end up adopting its practices, as a sort of “industry standard.” According to computer scientist and privacy advocate Lauren Weinstein, “Google is perhaps the most noteworthy right now by the simple fact that they are the 800-pound gorilla. What they do tends to set a pattern and precedent.”
Next: Not Just a Hacker Target >>
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