Leahy Seeks Info on Bush Administration Google Search Subpoena

Mountain View, Calif. -- Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting information on the Bush administration's subpoena of Google's search engine records. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed the search engine records of America Online, Yahoo, Microsoft and Google while preparing a legal defense of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), intended to restrict minors' access to online pornography. Only Mountain View-based Google has refused, saying instead it will fight the request to protect its customers' privacy. "I am interested in learning more about the extent to which the Department of Justice is relying upon data mining of the Internet search queries made by law-abiding American citizens to support its efforts under COPA and how the department is addressing the privacy and civil liberties concerns raised by the collection, storage and use of that data," Leahy said in a statement.
http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200601/012506.html