WSJ.com - Google to Buck U.S. on Data Request

WSJ.com - Google to Buck U.S. on Data Request: tbd if what the US government is requesting truly violates the "Do no evil" Google mantra.

Meanwhile, from the WSJ article, "Yahoo in a statement said it complied with the request on a 'limited basis and didn't provide any personally identifiable information.' The Yahoo statement added: 'We are rigorous defenders of our users' privacy. We did not provide any personal information in response to the Department of Justice's subpoena.' Microsoft's MSN unit in a statement confirmed it did comply, but in a way that 'protected the privacy of our customers.' MSN said the data it provided did not include any personally identifiable information of users. 'We gave the DOJ a generic list of aggregate and anonymous search terms from a roughly one-day period,' AOL said in a statement. 'This did not include search results nor any personally-identifiable information and therefore there were absolutely no privacy implications.'"

The timing could have been a better, in terms of Google good will/PR, if it hadn't coincided with international headlines proclaiming "Bin Laden Warns of More Attacks"...