2010年04月21日08:44
Google Discloses Government Demands for User Data
The Internet giant Tuesday released data about the number of requests it has received from government agencies for data about users related to criminal investigations as well as government requests to remove content from Google's services such as its search engine or YouTube video site.
The new mapping tool also lists what percentage of the content removal requests Google complies with by country, except for China, where Google says numerating the requests would be illegal.
The tool shows that from July 1 to Dec. 31, Brazil made the most requests for user data, with 3,663. The U.S was second with 3,580. Brazil also led with 291 requests for removal of Web content, with Germany in second place and the U.S fourth, behind India. Google hosts lots of user-generated information in Brazil through its social-networking service Orkut, which is popular in the country.
A Google spokesman said the company plans to share data about what percentage of requests to turn over user information related to investigations it complies with once it figures out how to best characterize the data. The company also stressed other limitations to the data, which doesn't include countries where it receives a small amount of requests or statistics that could jeopardize important investigations.
The company also noted that a single government request may seek information on multiple users or removal of multiple pieces of Web content. The data don't include requests to remove copyrighted material, Google said.
The move comes as privacy advocates increasingly demand that Internet companies, including Google be more transparent about what they do and don't share with governments, along with what they agree to censor.
It also comes as many governments are urging Google to do more to protect user privacy. On Tuesday, a group of privacy commissioners from countries including Canada, France and the United Kingdom held a press conference to push Google to build better privacy protections into its services. The news conference followed a letter the group sent to Google Monday.
The missive scolds Google for what it describes as a range of privacy abuses, ranging from inadequate protections in its social-networking service Buzz to its procedures for retaining images it gathers for its Street View mapping services. It calls on Google to create 'privacy-protective' default settings and make it easy for people to delete their accounts, among other measures.
'We are increasingly concerned that, too often, the privacy rights of the world's citizens are being forgotten as Google rolls out new technological applications,' reads the letter, which also asks for Google to issue it a response for how it plans to meet these requirements. 'Privacy cannot be sidelined in the rush to introduce new technologies to online audiences around the world,' it states.
A Google spokesperson said Monday the company has 'discussed all these issues publicly many times before and have nothing to add to the letter.'
European authorities have been among the Internet giant's harshest critics when it comes to privacy issues, pressuring the company to shorten the time it retains search logs, for example. European governments blasted a settlement between Google, authors and publishers over digital books in part over concerns with what Google would do with users' reading records.
Criticism in the U.S has been building too. A group of lawmakers recently asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Google's roll-out of its Buzz service, which they contend exposed private information about Google users. Monday's letter also dwells on Buzz, claiming its launch 'betrayed a disappointing disregard for fundamental privacy norms and laws.'
Google at the time acknowledged it should have made some user privacy controls more prominent in Buzz and adjusted the service.
Meanwhile, Google remains on a campaign to fight back against what it sees as the growing problem of Internet censorship. In March, it stopped censoring its search engine in China, although the company continues to host some services in China.
JESSICA E. VASCELLARO
2010年04月21日08:44
谷歌公佈各國政府索取網民數據的次數
就
在谷歌公司(Google Inc.)管理用戶隱私的方式遭到一群政府官員批評之際﹐該公司採取一項措施﹐把互聯網審查和政府索取網民數據的問題推到了台前。週二﹐這家互聯網巨頭公佈了各國政府機構因刑事調查向它索取用戶數據的次數﹐以及各國政府要求刪除搜索引擎和視頻網站YouTube等谷歌服務上某些內容的次數。
Associated Press
位於加州山景城的谷歌總部的公司標識
地 圖工具顯示﹐從2009年7月1日至12月31日﹐巴西索取用戶數據的次數最多﹐達到3,663次。美國索取次數為3,580次﹐位居第二。在要求刪除網 上內容的次數方面﹐巴西同樣居首﹐達到291次﹔排在後面的依次為德國、印度和美國。由於旗下網絡社交服務Orkut在巴西很受歡迎﹐谷歌在該國擁有大量 用戶自創的信息。
谷歌公司的一位發言人表示﹐公司還計劃公佈數據﹐顯示它以多大的比例按照要求向政府提交與調查有關的用戶信息﹐只等公司想好數據的最佳呈現方式。谷歌也強調了數據的其他侷限：次數很少的國家並未包含在其中﹐可能影響重要調查的統計數據也沒有公佈出來。
谷歌還指出﹐政府可能是一次索取多個用戶的信息﹐或一次要求刪除多條網上內容。谷歌稱﹐它公佈的數據不包括政府要求它刪除有版權材料的次數。
在谷歌公佈這些數據的時候﹐主張網民隱私的人士正越來越多地要求谷歌等互聯網公司更多地透露﹐它們在和政府分享哪些內容﹐沒有分享哪些內容﹐以及它們同意審查哪些內容。
同時﹐多國政府也在敦促谷歌進一步保護用戶隱私。週二﹐由加拿大、法國和英國等國隱私專員組成的一個團體召開新聞發佈會﹐力促谷歌在其服務中加強隱私保護。新聞發佈會之前﹐該團體曾於週一向谷歌發送了一封函件。
信件就一系列侵犯隱私問題指責谷歌﹐例如﹐社交網絡服務Buzz中的保護措施不足﹐以及街景地圖服務採集的圖像保留程序不當等。它要求谷歌創建“隱私保護”默認設置﹐讓人們易於刪除自己的帳戶﹐並採取其它措施。
信件稱﹐我們越來越擔憂﹐在谷歌推出新的科技應用程序時﹐全球民眾的隱私權常常被拋諸腦後﹔在急於向全球網絡用戶推介新技術的同時﹐不應將隱私問題置於不顧。信函還要求谷歌就計劃如何達到這些要求作出回應。
谷歌發言人週一表示谷歌此前已多次公開討論這些問題﹐對信函的問題沒什麼可補充的。
歐洲當局在隱私權問題上一直是對谷歌最嚴厲的批評者﹐諸如迫使谷歌縮短保留搜索記錄的時間。歐洲多國政府否決了谷歌與作者和出版商之間就數字化圖書而達成的協議﹐部分原因就是擔心谷歌會如何處理用戶的閱讀記錄。
美 國的批評也在逐漸增多。近期多名國會議員要求聯邦貿易委員會(Federal Trade Commission)調查谷歌推出的Buzz服務﹐擔心這項服務會暴露谷歌用戶的私人信息。週一的信件也詳細論述了Buzz﹐稱這項服務的推出顯示出谷 歌漠視最根本的隱私保護規范和法律﹐令人失望。
谷歌目前承認它應當在Buzz的用戶隱私控制方面採取更有效的措施﹐並稱已做出調整。
與此同時﹐谷歌認為網絡審查的問題正在加重﹐並仍在奮力抵抗這一趨勢。3月﹐雖然谷歌仍繼續在中國提供部分服務﹐但它停止了對中國搜索引擎的審查。
JESSICA E. VASCELLARO
（更新完成）
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