Google is being forced to disclose user data that could include email addresses, payment information, MAC addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and IP addresses.

Journalist Tony Webster revealed the case which stems from an application received by a Minnesota bank from a customer requesting a wire transfer of $28,500. While the credentials of the bank customer seemed legitimate – the suspect had faxed a copy of his passport – they were, in fact, fraudulent.

"The Edina Police Department figured out that while searching Google Images for the victim's name, they found the photo used on the fake passport, and investigators couldn't find it on Yahoo or Bing. So, they theorized the suspect must have searched Google for the victim's name while making the fake passport," Webster explained.

Edina police applied for a search warrant that requested the court authorization to search "names, email addresses, account information, and IP addresses of anyone who searched variations of the victim's name over a five-week period of time."

However, search warrants require probable cause, argued Webster. The danger, he added, is that innocent people who happened to Google the victim's name could be swept up in the online dragnet.

Google is fighting the request.

Source: SCMagazine