US Homeland Security collaring a suspected arsonist after asking Google for the IP addresses of folks who made a specific search
An unsealed warrant in a case involving alleged pedophile R&B star R. Kelly has shown how the Feds can get Google to hand over the details of people who make specific web search queries.
It raises a mild concern that if Uncle Sam’s request is too broad, and Google can’t or won’t resist the order, you could be swept up into an investigation simply by searching for the wrong thing at the wrong time. We note, though, that in this particular tale, the query was rather narrow, and Google insists it challenges overly broad warrants.
