Judge Googles Your Private Parts!

Well, not exactly...

But, your privacy has become a prevalent issue in reference to the actions of Google and Judge Louis L. Stanton.

The story broke on Wednesday, July 2, 2008 on Wired.com:

Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Viacom wants the data to prove that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos, which could be used to increase Google's liability if it is found guilty of contributory infringement.

A highly opinionated article discussing this ruling written by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) exposes the highly intrusive nature of this judge's decision. They rightfully object to the ruling by noting that it "erroneously ignores the protections of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), and threatens to expose deeply private information about what videos are watched by YouTube users." Viacom will now be able to view every video you have ever viewed on YouTube, no matter how innocent or illegal.

The judge's order also requires Google to turn over copies of all videos that it has taken down for any reason. This ruling threatens the privacy and anonymity of EVERY person who has ever used the extremely popular video sharing website. Cutting more deeply to the heart of the issue, it threatens the integrity of the entire internet as we know it. Users have put their trust in Google, knowing that it stores deeply personal information about their search history, emails, and video watching habits. It has been clear that Google has only used this information in order to better target their incredibly successful advertisement serving platform. We have all bought into Google's "do no evil" philosophy.

Now, with one knock of the gavel, a judge has forever altered the landscape of online privacy. No longer can we follow a link to a video or search for a topic of interest without questioning who will view this information. We can no longer feel safe using web-based email services without wondering who is storing our messages and what they may be used for. We were fine with them being used to figure out our interest and target better ads but, with the US government exposing the data which was kept safe for years by a benevolent company such as Google, we can never feel safe and secure on the internet again.