If you think your internet searches are private and you’re using Google, think again. A recent court document reveals that Google has been releasing data to police based on keywords used in searches.
In this instance, police sent a search warrant to Google asking for information on “users who had searched the address” of a residence involved in an arson. Police then used the IP address information they got from Google to find a suspect’s name, phone number and phone records, allowing them to pinpoint the suspect’s whereabouts at the time of the arson.
“This ‘keyword warrant’ evades the Fourth Amendment checks on police surveillance,” Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told CNET. "When a court authorizes a data dump of every person who searched for a specific term or address, it's likely unconstitutional."
Google told CNET it “works to protect the privacy of its users,” by requiring a warrant, but still supports law enforcement. However, CNET points out that innocent people who are simply looking things up out of curiosity could be arrested “for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
SOURCE: CNET October 8, 2020