Google has been ordered by the US government to hand over data revealing what its users are searching for online - and the company has refused! In a triumph of privacy rights, the search giant has defied the US and refused to give over data relating to requests entered into Google's online search engine. The White House said the information is part of an effort to protect children from online pornography, but Google has said no - leading the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, to ask for a court order this week.
Rights groups in the US are already on alert after revelations that the White House authorised phone tapping without court orders. "This is exactly the kind of thing we have been worrying about with search engines for some time," Pam Dixon of the World Privacy Forum told the Associated Press. "Google should be commended for fighting this."