U.S. Administration. should stop search engine subpoenas, CCIA says -- Government needs to set better example abroad

File Under: 2006, Cybersecurity

Jan 23, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Justice (DoJ) should cease trying to eavesdrop o n Americans’ search engine queries, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) said today. In matters where individual privacy and proprietary information are at stake, the government should o nly pursue these invasive measures as a matter of last resort out of demonstrable necessity, association officials said.

The government’s subpoena threatens to erode public confidence in the search engine industry and free use of the Internet.

"The U.S. government should uphold civil liberties at home, especially when basic freedoms are in such danger abroad. We must remain the ‘City upon a Hill’ to which all nations can look for example," CCIA President and CEO Ed Black said. "U.S. companies cannot resist egregious violations of individual liberty and privacy overseas so long as we fail in this basic principle of democracy. The more that our administration undertakes actions such as this, the less credibility we will have to criticize other nations’ attempts to control the Internet in their own countries."

Numerous Internet enterprises—search engines especially—request and preserve user data in order to customize and speed users’ experiences. Such information is generally anonymous, traceable to individuals o nly via separate searches of ISP server logs that may point nowhere within weeks. Other information is truly personal and may remain sensitive for years. Regardless, users expect their privacy to be protected. That presumption is now at risk.

The public accepts disclosing such personal data because it is free from government scrutiny. Attempts by the government to access private information will inflict irreparable harm o n the future of the Internet.

Contact: Will Rodger, 202-783-0070 ext. 105