Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Reveals User Data to Police; No Email Privacy

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By Thomas Copeland on August 5, 2014 Technology & Software

According to the latest news, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) recently revealed one of its user’s identity, upon finding child abuse material on his Google account. The company notified an agency known for child protection; the agency then alerted the police. The man was a resident of Houston, Texas, and he was later on arrested by the police.

This act of the company is raising criticisms as it means that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is policing the web and the users have no privacy over their accounts.

According to the local news, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) detected images of a young teenager in the email that John Henry Skillern sent out. The company immediately notified the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The child protection agency then alerted the police, which secured a search warrant and arrested the man. John Henry, a 41 year old convicted sex crook, has been charged with the crime of possessing child porn.

According to the police, only Google can see the confidential information of John Henry’s account; the police cannot.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) refused to comment when asked whether it searched its users’ accounts for other illegal materials as well, such as the content that can give rise to hate speech or pirated stuff.

The chief legal officer of the company, David Drummond, said that the company funds IWF (Internet Watch Foundation). This foundation keeps an eye on the internet content and notifies the company of any child abusive material that might be available on its search engine. The company, upon receiving a notification, deletes any such material from its search engine and keeps the web clean.

The legal officer further mentioned that the company worked with the foundation and the child protection agency in order to build a clean platform with no child sex abuse material.

The company scans through the email accounts of its 400 million users in order to post advertisements on those accounts. The company, in April, 2014, updated its terms with its users and expanded its operations. The company, after the renewal of conditions, could scan the email contents as well as the stored material.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) updated these terms after it faced a class action for infringing the privacy of the personal emails: the case, however, was dismissed. Google, during that time period, said that the company had a right to scan through the content that a person willingly shares with the third parties.

The company, in April, stopped checking the web content of approximately 30 million users who were reported to be linked to an educational strategy plan. It is pertinent to note here that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is not the only company that has faced privacy infringement law suits; Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) also faced similar charges over message checking.

The share prices of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) stand firm in the market. On the last trading day, August 4, 2014, the company opened its shares at a price of $569.04 and closed at an increased price of $573.15, after hitting the highest figures of $575.35.