Unsealed court documents reveal that Google has provided police with information on users simply based on their keyword searches - an action that some say could be a violation of US civil rights. But while police might cite that particular case as evidence that 'keyboard warrants' are effective, others are concerned that innocent people could be caught up in the crossfire. 'This 'keyword warrant' evades the Fourth Amendment checks on police surveillance,' Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told CNET. Williams' attorney, Todd Spodek, says he is now planning to challenge the legality of the 'keyboard warrant'. The publication asked Google to reveal how many 'keyboard warrants' and 'geofence warrants' it has received from investigators since 2017.

Source: Daily Mail October 10, 2020 14:38 UTC