Google Handing Over IPs

After a request from Indian Law Enforcement, Google handed over the IP address of an Orkut user. The Indian Law Enforcement asked the ISP Airtel for information about the “owner” of that IP and Lakshmana Kailash K. was arrested. However, it turns out that Airtel did not hand over the correct information to Indian police, Mr. Kailash was released three weeks later. Google hasn’t had much to say:

When contacted for comment, a Google spokesperson told me that, “Google has very high standards for user privacy and a clear privacy policy, and authorities are required to follow legal process to get information. In compliance with Indian legal process, we provided Indian law enforcement authorities with IP address information of an Orkut user.” This was the only comment that Google’s PR people would give me in response to a lengthy set of questions that I sent over. In particular, I asked if they had received a court order for the information, or merely a polite request from the police. Their response leaves things very hazy.

Initially, Yahoo didn’t have much to say either, then they “misspoke“, now they’ve been taking a beating.

1. Google Joins Yahoo in Handing Over Info to Police : Committee to Protect Bloggers

   [...] Nart Villeneuve reports that Google handed over information on one of the users of its Orkut social network to Indian police. After a request from Indian Law Enforcement, Google handed over the IP address of an Orkut user. The Indian Law Enforcement asked the ISP Airtel for information about the “owner” of that IP and Lakshmana Kailash K. was arrested. However, it turns out that Airtel did not hand over the correct information to Indian police, Mr. Kailash was released three weeks later. [...]
2. Google händigt IPs aus! : simoncolumbus.de

   [...] Nart Villeneuve berichtet, dass Google die IP-Adresse eines Orkut-Users an indische Polizeibehörden auslieferte. Lakshmana Kailash K. hatte angeblich “beleidigende” Bilder des indischen Nationalhelden Chhatrapati Shivaji hochgeladen - ein fragwürdiges Delikt. [...]
3. Teeth Maestro

   Wow another giant chickens out in lure for big bucks

   Do we have any hope or privacy is a thing of the past not considered sacred to protect with ones dear life
4. Orkut In Cahoots With The Indian Police « IPC 498A

   [...]  http://www.nartv.org/2007/11/07/google-handing-over-ips/ [...]