FEDS ARE ORDERING GOOGLE TO ID ANYONE WHO SEARCHED CERTAIN KEYWORDS
Google has been asked to identify user data on anyone typing in certain search terms, raising fears that innocent online users could get caught up in serious crime investigations at a greater frequency than previously thought.
In an attempt to track down criminals, the Feds have started using new "keyword warrants" and using them to ask Google to provide them info on anyone who searched a "victim's" name or address.
“Trawling through Google’s search history database enables police to ID people merely based on what they might have been thinking about, for whatever reason, at some point in the past,” Jennifer Granick, surveillance and cybersecurity counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, told Forbes.
“This never-before-possible technique threatens First Amendment interests. To make matters worse, police are currently doing this in secret, which insulates the practice from public debate and regulation,” she added.
