Search engines and Law

1
Search engines and Law

• Implications of a centralized architecture of
  search for civil rights

2
Joris van Hoboken e-mail vanhoboken_at_ivir.nlIns
titute for Information Law University of
Amsterdam
PhD focusing on regulatory aspects of search
engines Background Academic degrees
Theoretical Mathematics, Law Special interests
Interaction between Information Technology and
civil rights Worked for Bits of Freedom
3
SEs raise many issues for law

• dominance, competition
• implications of commercial business model
• hidden biases
• no transparency of technology (decisions)
• freedom of expression, freedom to information
• catalysts of harm to people or property
• data privacy, informational privacy

4
Search engine dynamics
THE STATE?
5
Closer look at two civil rights

• freedom of expression
• freedom to respect of ones private life

6
Freedom of expression

• Search regards the freedom of expression, because
  its functioning is crucial for the forming of
  ones opinions.

7
European Convention on H.R.

• Article 10 Freedom of expression
• 1 Everyone has the right to freedom of
  expression. This right shall include freedom to
  hold opinions and to receive and impart
  information and ideas without interference by
  public authority and regardless of frontiers.
  This article shall not prevent States from
  requiring the licensing of broadcasting,
  television or cinema enterprises.

8
Freedom to information

• There is no separate civil right of freedom to
  information outside of the government sphere.
  There is a right of the public to be
  well-informed. The State has a positive
  obligation to guarantee
• Diversity
• Media pluralism

9
Search Engines public interests

• Important question
• Is there a role for the State with regard to
  search engines, to promote certain public
  interests and which instruments can be used for
  this goal?

10
Which public interests

• Diversity, autonomy, access to information,
  community, security
• Hypothesis
• The State could end up stressing some public
  interests over others, such as security.

11
Prof. Niva Elkin Koren (Israël)

• Users' generated content displaces the old
  intermediaries of public discourse, such as
  publishers and mass media with new
  intermediaries which facilitate access and
  identify relevant information in situations of
  information overflow The seemingly
  disintermediated environment is highly
  dependent on search engines. What are the
  ramifications of governing access to information
  in a way that is also vulnerable to systematic
  surveillance?

12
Side Step I Telecommunications

• If you look at recent telecom regulation, you see
  a development of new laws, so to make them into
  the extended arms of law enforcement agencies.
• Example Data retention directive

13
"Yeah - we used to call them cell phones. (The
Doctor Fun Archive)
14
Side Step II SEs libraries

• Should we think of search engines as replacing
  libraries?
• How are libraries governing their public task of
  opening up knowledge?

15
Respect for private life

• The new intermediary relies heavily on processing
  personal data for providing and structuring their
  services. It is one of their most important
  economic assets
• Contractual relation with intermediary
• Personalized search
• Other services, such as e-mail, alerts, shopping,
  etc

16
What happens with these data?

• More often then not
• Stored for indefinite period
• Available for indefinite future services
• Usually not shared with third parties, but
  available for law enforcement authorities under
  applicable laws. (National security, police,
  etc..)

17
Access to data for criminal law enforcement

• New law in the Netherlands since 1 January 2006,
  that makes it possible for public prosecutors to
  demand personal data from all sectors.
• Libraries were the only sector to raise
  significant opposition during the drafting of
  this law in 2004/2005. They started a campaign
  Dont give Big Brother access to our libraries!"

18
This law applies to search engines too

• All search data, logs, personal data, etc.. is
  available for criminal law enforcement when
  relevant for the investigation.
• Not only search data of a suspect
• In the US the laws granting access are even more
  permissive.

19
(No Transcript)
20
Benefits of decentralized, open source search
architecture

• Transparency
• Protection by software-architecture
• No central databases with personal data
• No central point of control of content, or easy
  possibility of filtering
• The biggest computer is owned by the users

21
Challenges

• Quality
• Spam proof
• Users