Feds Seek Google Records in Porn Probe

The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.

Privacy advocates have been increasingly scrutinizing Google’s practices as the company expands its offerings to include e-mail, driving directions, photo-sharing, instant messaging and Web journals.

Although Google pledges to protect personal information, the company’s privacy policy says it complies with legal and government requests. Google also has no stated guidelines on how long it keeps data, leading critics to warn that retention is potentially forever given cheap storage costs.

Associated Press (via Yahoo)

According to an article in the San Jose Mercury News, lawyers for the Justice Department issued a subpoena to the search company last year, asking for "one million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period."

CNet News - Feds seek Google search records