There are a few articles floating around the web about web users reaction to government interest in Google search data and Google’s approach in China.
In the New York Times, an article describes users concerns that they may be found guilty of something if they stumble upon improper content during an innocent search. One interviewee told the paper about her concerns for following the Palestinian elections:
"If I followed my curiosity and did some Web research, going to Web
sites of the parties involved, I would honestly wonder whether someone
in my government would someday see my name on a list of people who went
to ‘terrorist’ Web sites," she said.
Jeremy Zawodny asks why Google has removed the page that used to say, "Google does not censor results for any search term.
What a sad week in the world of web search, huh? There was the DoJ subpoena, the "Yahoo gives up on search" scare, and now this. I can only hope that this month is over soon.
Slate suggests that if you’re nervous about being tracked by Big Brother, then you should stop using it.
If you’re paranoid, stop using Gmail and regularly delete your
cookies. Even if Google promises not to do anything evil with the data
it collects, it can’t guarantee that the government—which has been
handing out subpoenas like they’re Pez candy lately—won’t be tempted to
do evil deeds with it 10, 20, or 50 years down the line.
And a forum post suggests that people rally to Googlebomb Google so that if you search for the term ‘Google’ the word evil will come up!
New York Times Article
Jeremy Zawodny Post
Slate Article
Search Engine Watch Forum
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