The latest on Google

There have been some press releases circulating about the likely verdict that the judge may give the Google case concerning the Justice Department's (DoJ) request to some search results by users. If the reports are correct, the demands by the DoJ have been reduced

The Department is now seeking only 50,000 web addresses, of which it says it will look at 10,000. It has also reduced the number of search queries sought – down to 5,000 from one million. Of these, the Department says it will only look at 1,000.

However, there was also a hint by the judge that Google may have to comply with the demand for requests.

I think we will will have to wait until the judge makes the final decision rather than speculate the outcome, but once again, one will question how long Google or any other search engine company stores search engine results and what their policies are with regard to the retention of data (such as internet search engine requests). This brings me to the Data Retention Directive, but I will return to this issue at a later date.

See also:

• LA Times: US cuts back request for Google data
• The Digital Collegian: Google: Court ruling would result in slippery slope