Search giant Google couldn’t locate records subpoenaed by law enforcement – partly because of a defective search tool?



A recently unsealed case from the Northern District of California shows Google dragged its feet on subpoena and search warrants for a Gmail and Google Voice account associated with a 2013 robbery and murder in a small town two hours north of San Francisco.

Google explained in court records that it “uses export tools to extract data” for law enforcement requests, but that the tool failed. When company employees of “increasing seniority” tried to query the search software, the system incorrectly responded that it did not exist.

Google declined an interview according to wxyz for this story, and the U.S. attorney’s office said it “has no comments.”