14 DAY TRIAL // Arizona, California, Utah and Virginia. Four famous US states that will represent an opened source of information for all the Internet users that will google for certain keywords. The Mountain View-based company agreed with the four states' authorities to return more information about these locations, including details about schools, health infrastructure or other services. Although it might look like a new partnership that will bring Google closer to local clients, the search giant will receive no money because it is only a governmental agreement, without any financial term.
"These partnerships are among many that Google is pursuing with government agencies to better serve the public," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive sustained according to EarthTimes. However, this new deal raises concerns about the users' privacy because some sensitive information concerning the residents of the states might appear on the Google search engine. "We are only here making public information more accessible. We are not about cracking open internal records and making them public. The reality is that much information on state Web sites is public, but effectively it's not, because it's hard to find," J.L. Needham, Google's product manager, tried to comment the concern.
However, Google manages to partner with the US authorities and this is only a sign that the Mountain View company represents a powerful firm able to collaborate with the government. Usually, Google tries to comply with the authorities' demands, because the search giant always described itself as a company that works for users without infringing their rights. Take as example YouTube, the online video sharing service that was often brought in the spotlights because it was accused of copyright infringement. Every time, the company agreed to remove certain clips and comply with the demands about a potential damage of its image.