Fergie's Tech Blog

Brazilian Judge Orders Google to Disclose Users' Data

A Reuters newswire article, via eWeek, reports that:

A Brazilian judge has ordered the local office of Web search company Google to disclose the data of users of Google's social networking site Orkut accused of crimes like racism or child pornography.

Federal judge Jose Lunardelli ruled late on Aug. 31 that Google be given 15 days to disclose the information, including the Internet Protocol addresses that can uniquely identify a specific computer on a network.

The judge set a daily fine of 50,000 reais ($23,255) for each individual case if Google refuses to reveal the data.

Brazilians account for 65 percent of Orkut's nearly 27 million users and public prosecutors have recently been investigating Orkut communities set up by Brazilians and dedicated to such subjects as racism, homophobia and pedophilia.

posted by Fergie @ 9/01/2006 12:27:00 PM