NY Times “Google, porn, privacy” article

   After getting a helpful e-mail from a TA for this course, I checked out the NY Times article, Google Resists U.S. Subpoena of Search Data.  The article talks about how the U.S. government is looking to get information regarding what sites or keywords Google users are searching for.  Google does not want to give up this information to the government because it may put the privacy of their users in jeopardy and it has not been made clear to Google just how the information will be used. 

   I personally think that the government has no right to be able to look through Google’s records to see what users are searching for.  It does not matter what users are searching for, they can search for anything they want on their computers.  Why does the government need to see what users are searching for?  All it will do is confirm that a lot of people are curious about porn.  I do not think that there is any harm in looking at or watching porn as long as you’re not somehow hurting others in the process. 

   If you’re looking at porn in a public place, such as a library, I do think that that is a different case.  I was at the library over at ECC one day and these guys were looking at porn on the computer and there were some mothers in the library w/ their kids.  I did think that was inappropriate because what if the child had walked by the computer and had seen porn on the screen? That would have been an uncomfortable position for everyone involved.  But I do think that it is just fine to be involved with porn from a private computer and I do not think that the government should be able to monitor this or be able to search through records to see who is looking at what.