The Bush Administration is trying to pressure seach engine giant Google to release it’s search engine records via subpoena that it delivered to them on Wednesday. It’s all part of their plan to bring back and attempt to enforce the COPPA or the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.

If Google loses and does in fact have to turn over records, it will include a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period. So far Google has refused to hand over any such information.

“The government can’t even claim that it’s for national security,” Everett-Church said. “They’re just using it to get the search engines to do their research for them in a way that compromises the civil liberties of other people.”

Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel for Google, said the company will fight the government’s effort “vigorously.”

I hope that Google does go to court and fight this. Someone needs to stand up to our government and make them realize they cannot just take information when they feel the need. Especially when our privacy is at stake.

According to an article on the Washington Post, federal angencies are pushing to obtain our DNA for storage in a central database. The bill has already passed through the Senate, but still needs to be passed on the floor, and also has approval from the White House.

Luckily for most, the government will only sample one’s DNA when they’re convicted of a crime.

Privacy advocates across the political spectrum say the proposal is another step in expanding government intrusion.

“DNA is not like fingerprinting,” said Jesselyn McCurdy, a legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union. “It contains genetic information and information about diseases.” She added that the ACLU questions whether it is constitutional to put data from those who have not been convicted into a database of convicted criminals.

Privacy advocates are especially concerned about possible abuses such as profiling based on genetic characteristics.

Originally, the federal DNA database was limited to convicted sex offenders, who often repeat their crimes. Then it was expanded to include violent felons. Several states, including Virginia, also collect DNA from those arrested for violent crimes.

“It’s a classic mission-creep situation,” said Jim Harper, a privacy specialist with the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. “These guys are playing a great law and order game . . . and in the process creating a database that could be converted into something quite dangerous.”

Scary as it is, this will most likely pass through into law, as most other recent privacy intrusion bills.
I also see a large possibility for misuse here, in every corner of the government.