Guarding Google's Data Banks

The more info the company accumulates, the more unwanted legal attention it will draw. What's more, its brand could suffer damage as well

by David H. Holtzman

Google's motto is "Don't be evil," but it might be better for the company if it were "Don't view evil." The search-engine giant's strategy to become the custodian of all electronic information may ultimately tarnish its financial future.

Storing information is very different from pointing to it. Google (GOOG) has already been involved in legal and government hassles over access to its search logs. The company's lawyers will square off with the Justice Dept. in a U.S. District Court hearing on Mar. 14 in San Jose. Calif., over the government's attempts to gain access to search requests and Web-site addresses. But all this is nothing compared to what's going to happen once Google becomes the one-stop database shop on the information superhighway.

The company's stated mission is "to organize the world's information and make it universally useful and accessible." And there's no doubt Google is data-ravenous. Unlike its predecessors in the search business, it didn't stop with tracking Internet sites. Through acquisition and product development, Google has expanded its search functions to include shopping information (Froogle), blogs, catalogs, 20 years of Internet Usenet chatter (Google Groups), academic papers (Google Scholar), and, ostensibly, all published hard copy (Google Books).

GOOGLE ALL OVER.

If the target were just public material, the only entity under threat would be the Library of Congress. But Google needs private information, too.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt pointed to the company's ambitions earlier this month when he inadvertently confirmed the existence of GDrive, a remote storage service, apparently designed to host the master version of everyone's personal data. GDrive was revealed on slide notes accidentally attached to a PowerPoint presentation posted on the Google Web site.

The company has also expanded its technology onto the personal computer with Google Desktop, which enables users to search through personal files. Schmidt & Co. have even gotten into communications with Google SMS (short messaging) and Google Mobile, maps with Google Maps, detailed satellite reconnaissance of the planet with Google Earth, and, of course, e-mail with the company's popular Gmail service.

SNOOP MAGNET.

The more Google wants to do, the more information it needs to store. And the more it has, the more valuable that data becomes -- and the more third parties will try to get their hands on Google's assets.

Another drawback to the spotlight: The more successful Google is, the more unwelcome legal attention it will draw. As data continues to flood into Google, the comprehensiveness of its databases makes it a juicier target for government fishing expeditions. Its refusal to comply with a Justice Dept. subpoena is getting a lot of media attention right now, but surely there are many situations where Google has complied with U.S. government requests. In fact, I imagine it has given in to most of them. Remember, Google's defense in the Justice Dept. case isn't based on consumer privacy, but rather on its right to protect trade secrets.

So I would imagine that Google is a favorite stopping point on the Patriot Act express. A federal agent investigating almost anything could easily justify dipping into Google's records, assuming the agent ever felt the need to justify anything.

HACKING TARGET.

Sometimes, just the results of searches can be damning. In one recent case, Google search evidence was used to secure a criminal conviction. In November, 2005, Robert Petrick was convicted of murder in Durham, N.C., in part because of evidence that he used Google to search for the terms "neck snap break." Although the police got the evidence directly from his hard drive, the authorities could have gotten it straight from the company.

In addition to criminal activity, Google's records would be useful in many civil cases, such as divorce, employment suits, and shareholder actions. As time goes on, Google's records will be as useful to an investigation as that of any other utility -- if not more so.