Google filed documents at a federal District Court in San Jose on Friday arguing against a subpoena from the U.S. government asking for millions of search queries and one million randomly selected Web
page addresses from the company's usage files. The documents say the release of such data would expose Google's trade secrets to its competitors, and undermine consumers' trust in the search giant.
The government is seeking search records for its lawsuit in defense of the Child Online Protection Act, which was struck down by the Supreme Court a few years ago. The department plans to use
information provided by the major search companies to test Web filters' effectiveness at screening out adult sites. Google says it would have to divulge proprietary information in adhering to this
request. Activist groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation claim the Act violates the First Amendment right to free speech. In court documents, the ACLU
said the government has failed to show how millions of search records would be relevant to a case about minors' access to pornography. The hearing will commence on March 13.
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