Google Australia Ordered To Reveal Bloggers
- 28 days
- Former sportsman Shane Radbone
- 13 requests from Australia during one year
Google Australia was given 28 days by a South Australian court to come up with the names of anonymous authors who have been using its Blogger service to allegedly defame 7-Eleven executive and former sportsman Shane Radbo
- 28 days
- Former sportsman Shane Radbone
- 13 requests from Australia during one year
Google Australia was given 28 days by a South Australian court to come up with the names of anonymous authors who have been using its Blogger service to allegedly defame 7-Eleven executive and former sportsman Shane Radbone.
The blogs reportedly accuse Radbone of being an “incompetent businessman and sportsman. The bloggers also accuses Radbone of committing fraud, borrowing $1 million unlawfully and, among other things.
Radbone sued Google last month after claiming that a number of blogs on the company’s Blogger service defamed him. Google will have to hand over the IP addresses, emails and phone numbers of the accused as a result of the court order.
Last week, Google said it had already deleted five blogs central to the case.
The search engine giant takes a strong stance on sharing information from its users, and the company produces biannual transparency reports that provide details of government requests for information from its services. The most recent report saw 13 requests from Australia during one year, of which 5 were from court orders.
However, though it prefers not to disclose data, Google does so when legally required, as its policy from the transparency reports, below, explains. That may mean it is forced to comply with the Australian court’s order.
“When we receive a request for user information, we review it carefully and only provide information within the scope and authority of the request. We may refuse to produce information or try to narrow the request in some cases. Like all law-abiding companies, we comply with valid legal process. We take user privacy very seriously, and whenever we receive a request we make sure it meets both the letter and spirit of the law before complying. When possible and legal to do so, we notify affected users about requests for user data that may affect them. And if we believe a request is overly broad, we will seek to narrow it,” said Google.
