So, it seems Google’s fighting the feds over a subpoena for a pretty large chunk of search history – all the searches done in any one given week. This is probably the most positive PR move Google’s done in a while, judging from the early commentary. Good for them. However, note that “other, unspecified search engines have agreed to release the information.” Also note that there’s more than one way to a person’s search history – the government could just as easily subpoena it from your ISP. Given all the regulatory goodies the high-speed Internet providers want from the government, do you really think they’d refuse? One way or the other, that data’s being acquired.
I suppose this is my way of saying that data cries out to be used, and that once the data is created, large-scale data mining by governments is inevitable. Google will fall into line once it realizes that the government can get equivalent data from other sources and sees how non-compliance affects its lobbying efforts – and once it realizes that this sort of move on the part of the government isn’t unique to the ‘Bush administration’ or even American politics. No government will be able to resist the temptation of such a large pool of aggregated data forever. While I expect a lot of ‘fight the power’ rhetoric from privacy advocates over the next decade, individuals will eventually internalize that they’re being watched, and conduct themselves accordingly. Future generations aren’t likely to expect or desire the same degree of privacy we do – it’ll simply be foreign to them.
It might not be their intent, but the drivers and promoters of the Internet – on average left-leaning libertarian types – are steadily creating and acclimatizing us to a system of universal monitoring, a more effective route to social conservatism than any explicit political idea.
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To some extent this trend is inevitable, but I also predict a shift towards client-centric architectures for cases where people want to ensure that their activites are safe from prying eyes.
A favorite topic of mine, as you know Greg. Have you read David Brin’s “The Transparent Society”? http://www.davidbrin.com/tschp1.html is his homepage. Check it out.
This is one of the best posts you’ve ever written!
Certainly people will have to get used to being watched – in fact, the government will have more restrictions on watching than anywhere else. Credit card companies, phone companies, large retailers, search engines and employers will have unfettered access to everything record-able.
Although the notion that left-leaning libertarians are the average drivers of the internet is unproven, it sounds good. The are probably the ones that THINK they are the drivers of all good on the internet.
But I think those LLL types under-credit the people who utilize the basic technology to actually sell stuff. I might wonder if porn purveyors lean left, or mortgage lead marketers, or your average small business person selling on eBay or Amazon.
In my opinion the gov. should have that info. for international safty for all americans/ u.s. citizens.think about it would you rather have our country being attacked again or the gov. know and stop them before any one gets hurt . think real hard when you tuck your babies in at night, i don’t have any problem with them having that info. maybe google has something to hide. maybe it is an issue with wanting power over the gov. themselves.Get off of your high horses and think aqbout our childrens safty. I know I have privacy desires too, but my family and our countrys safty comes first…..