U.S. search worries Google users

Tom Casling sat with his laptop computer Friday morning in a downtown coffee shop – as always, confining his Web searches to “legitimate” territory.

“I don’t use the Internet for porn,” said Casling, a recent Kansas University graduate, “and I think everything else is fairly legitimate.”

Still, Casling was miffed to learn the federal government is seeking millions of user records from Google, the world’s most popular Internet search engine. The government’s request has privacy advocates in Lawrence and across the country on edge.

“It’s preposterous,” Casling said, “but unsurprising.”

U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales this week asked a federal judge to order Google to provide a list of all requests entered into the popular search engine during an unspecified single week – a breakdown that could span tens of millions of queries.

Federal officials said the information was needed to help restore online anti-pornography laws struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Charles Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the agency was “absolutely not” trying to invade the privacy of Internet users. The government is seeking data about the searches, not the identities of searchers.

But some privacy advocates worry that online queries for names, medical information or Social Security numbers might give the government a chance to trace the searchers.

“I don’t think we’re interested in that, unless your name or Social Security have something to do with pornography,” Miller told the Journal-World.

Nancy Baym, an associate KU professor who studies Internet communication, was dubious.

“If you’ve been behaving, there’s not much to fear,” she said. “But to me it’s worrisome, because you don’t know what they’re going to go looking for.”

Bill Staples, a KU professor of sociology who has written about government surveillance, said news of the federal effort might educate Web users about their lack of privacy.

“You certainly want to stop and wonder: Are they capable of tracking your searches?” Staples said. “Yes, under certain circumstances.”

He added: “We have this assumption that (Internet searches) are anonymous. That may or may not be the case.”

Baym agreed.

“I would assume that nothing you do online is private,” she said.