Security News > 2020 > October > Here's US Homeland Security collaring a suspected arsonist after asking Google for the IP addresses of folks who made a specific search

An unsealed warrant in a case involving alleged pedophile R&B star R. Kelly has shown how the Feds can get Google to hand over the details of people who make specific web search queries.

Fast forward to this week, and Robert Snell of Detroit News uncovered the aforementioned search warrant [PDF] showing how Homeland Security investigators in June enlisted Google and Verizon Wireless to connect Williams, who lives in the state of Georgia, to the scene of the crime in Florida.

Homeland Security special agent Sylvette Reynoso testified that her team began by asking Google to produce a list of public IP addresses used to google the home of the victim in the run-up to the arson.

While word of these sort of requests for the identities of people making specific searches will raise the eyebrows of privacy-conscious users, Google told The Register the warrants are a very rare occurrence, and its team fights overly broad or vague requests.

"We vigorously protect the privacy of our users while supporting the important work of law enforcement," Google's director of law enforcement and information security Richard Salgado told us.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2020/10/09/google_search_arrest/