August 24, 2006 | In Politics, Technology | 2 Comments
Google is facing the danger of being shut out of the Brazil market, and could be fined up to $61 million for refusing to hand over confidential user data to the Brazilian government.
Federal prosecutors in Sao Paulo claim that the Orkut social networking service, an internet property of Google, is being used to promote criminal activity in the South American country, and the search giant has an obligation to hand user data over to Brazilian officials.
But Google maintains that, since its servers are hosted in the U.S., it has no obligation to heed the words of Brazil’s prosecutors, and that the matter can only be dealt with in an American courtroom. The internet giant already triumphed in a court battle against the U.S. Department of Justice earlier this year, getting out of a subpoena that would have seen private user information handed over to government busybodies.
That verdict, which seems to have set a legal precedent for increased privacy, almost guarantees that Google would win a battle against the Brazilian authorities in any U.S. courtroom.
It remains unclear exactly how events will transpire in this transcontinental battle for privacy rights, but Google seems determined not to give up on its principles without a fight. That, at the very least, is a good sign for the freedom-loving internet users of Brazil.
