Google spying for the CIA?

Via: arstechnica

Former intelligence officer Robert David Steele recently appeared on the Alex Jones show to make the provocative claim that Google is currently cooperating with secret elements in the US government, including the CIA saying, "Google has made a very important strategic mistake in dealing with the secret elements of the U.S. government. That is a huge mistake and I'm hoping they'll work their way out of it and basically cut that relationship off."

Steele has made these claims for some time; back in January, he said the same things at a conference organized by his company at which several sources came forward and spoke about the alleged cooperation. According to security site HSToday.us, which had a reporter in attendance at the conference, one unnamed security contractor "said three employees of an intelligence agency he declined to identify are in Mountain View, Calif. where Google is based, working with the company to leverage the search engine company's user data monitoring capability in the interests of national security."

It's clear that the company is not opposed to working with the intelligence and defense communities in principle. Products such as Google Earth are explicitly marketed to such industries, with Google claiming that its products allow "analysts and operatives to get the job done effectively and in record time."

Update on Thu, November 2, 2006 at 4:57 PM by Jeff Barson

Google denies that it spies for the CIA here.