[HN Gopher] Google handed ICE student journalist's bank and cred...
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       Google handed ICE student journalist's bank and credit card numbers
        
       Author : lehi
       Score  : 519 points
       Date   : 2026-02-10 17:48 UTC (5 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (theintercept.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (theintercept.com)
        
       | jmclnx wrote:
       | I left google search for duckduckgo a few years ago due to all
       | the marketing drivel returned. I guess there is yet another,
       | better reason, to avoid google.
       | 
       | As for gmail, it joined my old yahoo mail as a dumping ground. If
       | some site wants an email, they get my gmail address, which I
       | never go to these days.
       | 
       | But how did google get this person's info ? Are they spying on
       | their emails, or worse yet, are they scraping data for apps you
       | installed on your android phone ?
        
         | Forgeties79 wrote:
         | Just wish I could get off gcal. Too many friends/family on it
        
           | ceejayoz wrote:
           | Google Calendar is pretty cross-compatible.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICalendar
        
           | JoshTriplett wrote:
           | Fastmail's calendar works reasonably well. My two complaints
           | with it:
           | 
           | - There isn't a convenient calendar widget; Google's calendar
           | widget only works with Google's calendar. I'd like something
           | _exactly_ like Google 's calendar widget but working with
           | Fastmail's calendar.
           | 
           | - Sites that integrate with Google Calendar but not with
           | arbitrary CalDAV servers.
           | 
           | I could live without the latter, but the former is a
           | dealbreaker; I'd switch given a functional widget that is
           | fully self-contained and doesn't require some separate sync
           | app.
        
         | starik36 wrote:
         | What do you think is going to happen when DDG or Fastmail gets
         | a FISA warrant? You think they will stand their ground and go
         | to prison to protect your info?
         | 
         | History (like the PRISM project) says no.
        
           | ceejayoz wrote:
           | The article indicates even Meta pushed back on some of these:
           | 
           | > Unlike Thomas-Johnson, users in that case were given the
           | chance to fight the subpoena because they were made aware of
           | it before Meta complied.
        
           | yborg wrote:
           | Fastmail is Australian, though?
        
       | hsuduebc2 wrote:
       | The famous "Don't be evil" ia more and more ironic. But to be
       | honest, if they got the court order there is really nothing's
       | they could do.
       | 
       | In this case you should blame the game not the player.
        
         | Anonbrit wrote:
         | Several companies have resisted these court orders
         | successfully. Google can afford a lawyer to go over the order
         | with a fine tooth comb if they wanted to - it's just easier to
         | roll over and let the government rub their belly.
         | 
         | Trump has also repeatedly used government apparatus to
         | illegally retaliate against companies and individuals for not
         | going hos way, with no consequence, so it is hard to entirely
         | blame corporations for behaving that way
        
         | agilob wrote:
         | They changed the motto to "do the right thing", because,
         | apparently "evil" is too ambiguous. "Do the right thing" is
         | more suitable motto for a company whos CEO was a buddy of
         | Epstein. Tech CEOs helped get Trump elected and strengthen ICE
         | regime to protect the billionaires, they were all involved.
        
           | hsuduebc2 wrote:
           | That was really their argument?
           | 
           | Quite contrary, the "right thing" is the ambiguous one. I
           | think that most people agree what is evil. Certainly much
           | more than what is right.
        
       | Filligree wrote:
       | Were they legally required to?
        
         | diego_moita wrote:
         | Probably so. But what relevance does "legally required" have in
         | a country sliding into autocracy?
        
           | everforward wrote:
           | It reflects even worse on Google for vacuuming up and keeping
           | the data.
           | 
           | They can't really refuse to hand over the data, but they
           | could purge and stop collecting identifying data on
           | Americans. As is, they are tacitly complicit by collecting
           | data they know will be used against protesters.
        
             | mikae1 wrote:
             | _> they could purge and stop collecting identifying data on
             | Americans._
             | 
             | That's their entire business model though...
        
           | wyager wrote:
           | Let's be real, if a bigtech ignored judicial orders, whether
           | you would describe it as "fighting autocracy" or "corporate
           | fascism" is 100% dependent on who is currently in office
           | 
           | Google is a multi trillion dollar company, not a scrappy
           | libertarian upstart ready to gamble everything in court
        
           | zzzeek wrote:
           | giant private companies like Google are not ever going to be
           | involved with defying court orders, especially ones that do
           | lots of business with the federal government (which will be
           | just about any company even half of google's size). You can
           | say it's wrong or whatever but it's like asking a brick wall
           | to do an Irish jig.
           | 
           | The only solution to this problem is for the US to have a
           | vastly more active anti-monopoly regime so that companies
           | like Google, Facebook, Amazon etc. are simply not allowed to
           | exist at such scales where consumers are locked into them.
        
             | riku_iki wrote:
             | it depends if potential reputation damage is high.
             | 
             | Apple was fighting for user's privacy: https://en.wikipedia
             | .org/wiki/Apple%E2%80%93FBI_encryption_d...
        
           | semiquaver wrote:
           | Because it's important context for understanding what the
           | "point" of the article is. It could be any of:
           | 
           | - reporting on google's violation of privacy laws or handing
           | over info they weren't required to
           | 
           | - reporting on the US government's abuse of existing process
           | that Google was legally required to comply with but ought to
           | have challenged
           | 
           | - calling attention to investigatory legal practices that are
           | normal and above-board but the author of the article wishes
           | they were otherwise.
           | 
           | Some of these are motives are closer to the journalism end of
           | the spectrum and some of them are closer to advocacy. I
           | interpret this article as the third bucket but I wish it were
           | clearer about the intent and what they are actually
           | attempting to convey. The fact that the article is not clear
           | about the actual law here (for example, was this a judicial
           | subpoena?) makes me trust it less.
        
         | jmyeet wrote:
         | According to the ACLU, they are not [1]. So Google
         | _voluntarily_ handed over user information. It requires a court
         | order to enforce it and that requires a judge to sign off on
         | it.
         | 
         | This is somewhat analogous to ICE's use of administrative
         | warrants, which really have no legal standing. They certainly
         | don't allow ICE to enter a private abode. You need a judicial
         | warrant for that. That too requires a judge to sign off on it.
         | 
         | [1]: https://www.aclu.org/documents/know-your-rights-ice-
         | administ...
        
           | ceejayoz wrote:
           | > They certainly don't allow ICE to enter a private abode.
           | 
           | I'd just note that ICE is (falsely) claiming otherwise these
           | days.
           | 
           | https://apnews.com/article/ice-arrests-warrants-
           | minneapolis-...
           | 
           | "Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to
           | forcibly enter people's homes without a judge's warrant,
           | according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement
           | memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp
           | reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect
           | constitutional limits on government searches."
        
             | linkregister wrote:
             | Indeed, law enforcement officers frequently lie about laws
             | in order to accomplish their goals. This erodes public
             | trust in law enforcement. As a society we should structure
             | incentives such that agents of the government should be
             | exposed to the externalities resulting from their actions.
        
               | warkdarrior wrote:
               | The government (=Stephen Miller) said ICE agents have
               | "federal immunity," so good luck with applying
               | "externalities resulting from their actions."
        
             | FireBeyond wrote:
             | And ICE/DHS leadership is openly issuing memos advising
             | agents to ignore Federal Court rulings. It's so fucked up.
        
           | legitster wrote:
           | This is more aimed at individuals or smaller actors that may
           | be getting subpoenas from ICE.
           | 
           | There is actually a legal standing for DHS to issue these
           | administrative warrants on corporations in this way.
        
         | legitster wrote:
         | For a normal subpoena from a court, yes.
         | 
         | For an "administrative" subpoena from an agency, they take a
         | risk in court.
         | 
         | Judicial review is _deferred_. If Google thinks the subpoena is
         | egregious, they can go to court and argue. But in the meantime
         | they can either carry it out or risk being held in contempt if
         | they don 't and lose in court.
        
           | linkregister wrote:
           | According to this article, it is treated as a request and
           | often denied by the company. The target of the warrant did go
           | to court to quash it, but that was already after Google
           | declined to share the information.
           | 
           | https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/02/03/hom.
           | ..
           | 
           | edit: it appears that either 1. the Washington Post is
           | printing misinformation, or 2. I have made a grave
           | misinterpretation.
        
             | lotsofpulp wrote:
             | Washington Post can be relied on to publish disinformation,
             | not just misinformation:
             | 
             | https://bsky.app/profile/cingraham.bsky.social/post/3mecltn
             | b...
        
             | bobmcnamara wrote:
             | I mean, it is BezPost.
        
             | cpncrunch wrote:
             | I think that is a different case though.
        
         | dathinab wrote:
         | the only way to legally search a house, car or force companies
         | to hand anything over is with a judge signing it off
         | 
         | the article isn't clear about it but it implies that this was
         | not approved by a judge but DHS alone, this is also indicated
         | but the fact that the supona contained a gag order but Google
         | still informed the affected person that _some_ information was
         | hanged over
         | 
         | now some level of cooperation with law enforcement even without
         | a judge is normal to reduce friction and if you love in a
         | proper state of law there is no problem Keith it.
         | 
         | Also companies are to some degree required to cooperate.
         | 
         | What makes this case so problematic is the amount of
         | information shared without a judge order, that ICE tried to gag
         | Google, that Google did delay compliance to give the affected
         | person a chance to take legal action even through they could,
         | and last but but least that this information seems to have been
         | requested for retaliation against protestor which is a big no
         | go for a state of law
        
           | dmix wrote:
           | Apparently around 300 students have been deported over pro-
           | Palestine activism, similar to the person in the article who
           | self-deported
           | 
           | https://www.themarshallproject.org/2025/04/05/visa-
           | immigrati...
           | 
           | > Legally, the answer is murky, one expert told The
           | Washington Post -- at least when it comes to combing through
           | Supreme Court decisions for answers. The court has been clear
           | that First Amendment protections from criminal or civil
           | penalties for speech apply to citizens and noncitizens alike.
           | What's less settled, however, is how those protections apply
           | in the immigration context, where the executive branch has
           | broad discretion to detain or deport.
        
       | bovermyer wrote:
       | This does not surprise me. The continued existence of Google is a
       | net negative for humanity.
       | 
       | Sadly, it didn't start out like this.
        
         | hsuduebc2 wrote:
         | I would say that it's just ordinary greed driven company. Which
         | is basically normal corporation.
         | 
         | Why net negative tho?
        
           | bovermyer wrote:
           | The "net" refers here to "the good that Google does" (e.g.,
           | some pretty impressive networking research) is outweighed by
           | "the bad that Google does," such as the linked article.
           | 
           | Nothing is pure evil or pure good. Gauging where on the scale
           | a person or group lies is really hard, and subjective.
           | 
           | So, I try and keep score on the big players, but understand
           | that my judgement is fallible.
        
             | hsuduebc2 wrote:
             | Oh I understand what you meant by net negative, I was more
             | curious about the thing's you perceive negatively. I myself
             | consider them net neutral but the trend itself is negative.
        
       | hsuduebc2 wrote:
       | Just out of curiosity. Are there any companies today that are
       | seen the way Google used to be seen, as a generally "good"
       | corporation/companies that are also a important player? Maybe
       | Mozilla Foundation?
        
         | agilob wrote:
         | Blizzard, Microsoft come to mind
        
           | saubeidl wrote:
           | Blizzard is a bunch of sex pests and Microsoft is the guys
           | with the AI upsells on every inch of their OS...
        
             | agilob wrote:
             | Wasn't Blizzard pretty alright back when Diablo 2 was
             | released? and then LoD?
        
               | SlightlyLeftPad wrote:
               | All that was Blizzard North honestly. So it depended on
               | locality.
        
           | passwordoops wrote:
           | How far back do you have to go for Microsoft to be seen as
           | "good" the way Google was?
        
             | agilob wrote:
             | Windows XP for me
        
               | cess11 wrote:
               | .NET and VS Code gave some people the impression that
               | MICROS~1 had become good and nice.
        
           | AlexandrB wrote:
           | Blizzard ~10 years ago, maybe. Microslop has always been one
           | of the worst. I don't understand why anyone would have a
           | positive disposition towards Microslop.
        
           | govideo wrote:
           | yep re blizzard. they've gotten lots better since the msft
           | acquisition, based on my (limited) experiences with the newer
           | employees there.
        
         | InitialLastName wrote:
         | Anthropic seems to be chasing that angle (c.f. their run of "AI
         | that doesn't advertise to you" commercials).
        
           | nickthegreek wrote:
           | They have contracts with Palantir.
        
             | InitialLastName wrote:
             | GP's question was about perception, not reality.
        
           | skeptic_ai wrote:
           | Come back in 2-3 years. I bet will be one of the worst if
           | still around
        
         | AlexandrB wrote:
         | Maybe Valve?
        
           | moogly wrote:
           | Degenerate gambling company.
        
           | SlightlyLeftPad wrote:
           | Agreed. Nvidia too maybe? That said, Nvidia is highly
           | competitive and has built a walled garden via their software
           | so I have mixed feelings.
        
         | skeptic_ai wrote:
         | Maybe proton, but even that... is not great.
        
         | rchaud wrote:
         | There are no good mega-corporations, only a honeymoon period
         | where they haven't grown large enough to start horse-trading
         | for favorable treatment from the state.
        
         | jeffbee wrote:
         | There are exactly zero organizations that will refuse to comply
         | with subpoenas and warrants. It isn't up to business to fix the
         | national government.
        
       | diego_moita wrote:
       | Does anyone still remember when Western countries were scared of
       | Huawei because the Chinese would use their hardware to spy on
       | people?
       | 
       | Well, guess what? The U.S. also has their own Huawei. But, at
       | least, they're "democratic" and follow "the rule of the law" (for
       | whatever these words mean nowadays).
        
         | daveidol wrote:
         | Didn't we all learn this with the Snowden files? Nothing new
         | unfortunately
        
         | jacquesm wrote:
         | Both are wrong.
        
       | rvz wrote:
       | Like I said previously [0], Big Tech giants such as Google,
       | Microsoft and Amazon cooperate with ICE just like how Palantir
       | does.
       | 
       | So when are you going to stop using Google? (You won't will you?)
       | 
       | [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46407683
        
         | barbazoo wrote:
         | > So when are you going to stop using Google? (Never)
         | 
         | Why the meta commentary? Obviously some of us have unFANGed
         | their lives.
        
         | JohnMakin wrote:
         | These kind of condescending comments are a bit much, especially
         | when not everyone has the luxury or know-how to deFAANG their
         | lives. For instance, whether or not (I) personally want to
         | avoid it, I use some of this for actual work, and there is no
         | alternative. Comments like this seem to imply then I have no
         | right to complain about it, which is frankly ridiculous - there
         | is a world where FAANGs can exist without being far reaching
         | apparatuses of an authoritarian regime. They do so because it
         | is convenient and the existing power structure incentivizes it.
         | 
         | Like what am I gonna do in a job interview - "Oh, you guys use
         | gsuite? Sorry, I deFAANGed."
         | 
         | Come on.
        
           | throwway120385 wrote:
           | It's almost like there should be some third party that
           | represents people who could regulate companies like Google
           | and prevent them from becoming too big. Maybe there are some
           | examples from US history where some such third party existed.
        
           | skrtskrt wrote:
           | We're on the forum where people are most capable of doing
           | this for themselves.
           | 
           | And if your company uses GMail that is less than ideal for
           | de-Googling, but it does not meaningfully impact the benefits
           | of de-Googling your personal life.
           | 
           | Refusing to run all your search history, personal
           | transactions, and correspondences through one of the fascist
           | state's pet companies is still beneficial.
        
             | JohnMakin wrote:
             | If you use a work google profile on your home network, tied
             | to your real name, it definitely affects your personal life
        
         | NetOpWibby wrote:
         | I stopped using Google at least a decade ago.
         | 
         | Boom, gotcha.
        
       | x1ph0z wrote:
       | What are some ways users can insulate themselves from something
       | like this?
        
         | Anonbrit wrote:
         | Don't use products from large US tech companies?
         | 
         | Apple has a slightly better track record than Google of
         | fighting this stuff, but ultimately if you're using a product
         | from a US tech company then it's likely ICE can get their
         | grubby little mitts on everything that company knows about you
        
           | pixl97 wrote:
           | I'm guessing your constraint is impossible as living in the
           | US pretty much requires banking and working with companies
           | that will gladly give government agencies your information. I
           | severely doubt that tech is the only group doing this.
        
           | panarky wrote:
           | Is there any evidence that Apple fights administrative
           | subpoenas issued by US federal agencies?
           | 
           | Or is Google just more transparent than Apple about the
           | government orders it complies with?
           | 
           | For example, after the Department of Justice demanded app
           | stores remove apps that people use to track ICE deployments,
           | Apple was the first to comply, followed later by Google.
        
             | nomel wrote:
             | It's a constitutional right to record them doing their
             | duties, in public. That's clear.
             | 
             | Here's a question: Is making a reporting _system_ around
             | that, for the purpose of /approaches/is realtime tracking,
             | also protected? Maybe related to "non-permanence"?
             | 
             | (references welcome)
        
               | frumplestlatz wrote:
               | Sure it is. The same way it was legal to track and report
               | on CIA "extraordinary rendition" flights using publicly
               | available information.
               | 
               | What is not protected is actual interference or
               | obstruction, and first amendment protections can be lost
               | if the system's design, stated purpose, or predictable
               | use crosses from observation and reporting into
               | intimidation or operational coordination that materially
               | interferes or obstructs.
               | 
               | Given how these systems are already being used, and the
               | likely intent behind building one, that's a real risk if
               | you're not careful.
        
               | autoexec wrote:
               | > It's a constitutional right to record them doing their
               | duties, in public. That's clear.
               | 
               | Less clear than it used to be
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Guevara_(journalist)
        
               | frumplestlatz wrote:
               | From the wikipedia article: "Guevara was ordered removed
               | from the United States by an immigration judge in 2012"
        
               | autoexec wrote:
               | The removal case was administratively closed on appeal
               | which meant that he was legally authorized to stay in the
               | US while waiting for a green card application to go
               | through.
               | 
               | He was here on a work permit when the police arrested him
               | for filming a protest. Journalism isn't a crime so all
               | the charges connected to his arrest were dropped, but ICE
               | placed a detainer on him to keep him locked up anyway. A
               | judge granted him bond so that he could be released but
               | ICE fought that too and continued to keep him locked up.
               | Finally they reopened the 2012 case and used that to kick
               | him out of the country.
        
           | pear01 wrote:
           | Are they going to stop because a company fights a subpoena?
           | Or perhaps in the case of some touted alternatives, even if a
           | subpoena were acted upon, no data would be intelligible?
           | 
           | Maybe they'll just show up to your house next time. I'm not
           | sure why people complain about US companies complying with US
           | government subpoenas. Isn't that how it is supposed to work?
           | Imagine if the opposite were routine, would you like that?
           | 
           | People want to stop using Gmail to feel agency in a situation
           | where the real problem is their own government. The real
           | answer thus lies in deeply reforming a federal government
           | that really both sides of the aisle (in their own way) agree
           | has gotten too powerful and out of control.
        
             | throwway120385 wrote:
             | It's more nuanced than "the federal government is too
             | powerful." I feel more like non-law-enforcement agencies
             | like ICE are too powerful right now, but I also believe
             | that the FBI and the DOJ had a good mandate that should be
             | preserved. And I also believe that antitrust needs to be a
             | high priority. Please don't lump me in with people who just
             | want to tear it all down so they can live in a fiefdom.
             | There are good people in the US government, and there are
             | good things about it. It's just not all of it is good and
             | none of us can agree at all times on what's bad here.
        
               | philipallstar wrote:
               | If you've had a 100%-tolerance policy to illegal
               | immigration for years then that's the government not
               | being powerful enough, or not using its power to the
               | correct level for its citizens. If there's a better,
               | gentler fix for illegal immigration then everyone would
               | absolutely love that, but it's such a huge thing to
               | tackle due to the previous years' encouraging of illegal
               | migration.
        
           | Nextgrid wrote:
           | Alternatively, use them pseudonymously? There's little reason
           | any of these companies need to know your real identity. This
           | will both reduce the likelihood of ICE finding your account
           | from a real-life interaction, as well as reduce the
           | likelihood of ICE finding your real-life identity if they do
           | get your account data (they'd at least need to dig through it
           | more than just going by first/last name on the account
           | itself).
        
             | JohnMakin wrote:
             | > (they'd at least need to dig through it more than just
             | going by first/last name on the account itself).
             | 
             | FYI this is beyond trivial and automated to the nth degree.
             | There is so much more to go off of than some form fields to
             | uniquely identify a person.
        
               | fc417fc802 wrote:
               | For linking activity back to your person? Without name,
               | payment details, photos of face, or IRL social graph the
               | easiest path that comes to mind is IP address. But that's
               | going to involve additional inquiries and is likely
               | ambiguous (unless you live alone, but determining that is
               | again more work).
        
           | crazygringo wrote:
           | > _Don 't use products from large US tech companies?_
           | 
           | What does large have to do with it? Why do you think smaller
           | companies are any more likely to resist? If anything, they
           | have even _less_ resources to go to court.
           | 
           | And why do you think other countries are any better? If you
           | use a French provider, and they get a French judicial
           | requisition or letters rogatory, then do you think the
           | outcome is going to be any different?
           | 
           | I mean sure if you're avoiding ICE specifically, then using
           | anything non-American is a start. But similarly, in you're in
           | France and want to protect yourself, then using products from
           | American companies without a presence in France is similarly
           | a good strategy.
        
           | PlatoIsADisease wrote:
           | Wild guess: You like Apple more than Google.
           | 
           | I only guessed that because that is a strange conclusion to
           | draw when Apple was involved in PRISM, they worked with China
           | to black pro- democracy hong kong apps, and I believe they
           | turned over data to China and Russia.
           | 
           | Apple's PR/marketing is best in class, so I can also see this
           | just being a knowledge level error rather than bias.
        
             | frumplestlatz wrote:
             | You don't have to _like_ Apple to recognize that they take
             | a materially different stance from Google when it comes to
             | user privacy.
             | 
             | Take this, for example: https://support.apple.com/en-
             | us/102630
             | 
             | You can trivially disable web access to your data; at that
             | point, Apple literally _does not have the keys_ to your
             | end-to-end encrypted data and _cannot_ read or disclose it.
        
         | dismalaf wrote:
         | Be outside the US and/or don't use products from US companies?
         | 
         | Believe it or not, tech companies must comply with the
         | authorities of countries they operate in. They're also not
         | required to tell you, sometimes they're compelled to not tell
         | you.
         | 
         | The idea that a tech company can outright oppose the state is
         | pure fantasy... They still must operate within laws.
        
         | AzzyHN wrote:
         | As a rule: don't bother with trying to "opt out" of data
         | collection. Reject the collection entirely either by forcefully
         | blocking it (ublock Origin for instance) or straight up not
         | using the service.
        
         | charcircuit wrote:
         | Follow the law. As a guest in a country, treat your host with
         | respect. Do not support terrorist groups.
        
           | rchaud wrote:
           | Do you have any specifics about the law they allegedly broke?
        
             | bigyabai wrote:
             | Doubtful, charcircuit deliberately writes inflammatory
             | comments just to throw them over the fence and refuse to
             | elaborate.
        
           | tastyface wrote:
           | Terrorist groups like the Proud Boys and other Jan. 6ers?
        
           | RegW wrote:
           | > Follow the law. As a guest in a country, treat your host
           | with respect. Do not support terrorist groups.
           | 
           | The article describes Thomas-Johnson as a "student activist
           | and journalist" and "whose work has appeared in outlets
           | including Al Jazeera and The Guardian".
           | 
           | Are you saying that there is evidence elsewhere that he is
           | part of some terrorist organisation? Hey wait a sec, perhaps
           | you are confusing "Al Jazeera" with "Al Qaeda". You know
           | Google is your friend - oh wait...
        
         | digiown wrote:
         | I don't really understand the point in these cases
         | specifically. If not Google, the government can always ask a
         | bunch of other companies like utilities or stores about your
         | details. It's a fool's errand to protect your payment info, ID,
         | etc from the government, since it's issued or authorized by
         | them in the first place.
         | 
         | With regard to more important info, treat Google and any other
         | company's software as government-accessible. Don't put anything
         | that could be even suspicious, since even if you can win in
         | court, your time gets wasted by government employees getting
         | paid for it. People keep forgetting it, but the cloud is just
         | someone else's computer.
        
         | solid_fuel wrote:
         | Vote for politicians who support checks and bounds, demand
         | accountability from those in power, and participate in civics.
        
       | juliusceasar wrote:
       | Look how far they'll go to protect Israel. But when it comes to
       | Epstein friends and co, they need evidence to proof that water is
       | wet..
        
       | AlexandrB wrote:
       | Why the hell did Google even have his bank account numbers? I
       | wish there was more information on which Google service(s) this
       | data was pulled from.
        
         | ceejayoz wrote:
         | You can setup ACH for a number of Google services; Cloud,
         | Workspace, the Play Store.
        
       | legitster wrote:
       | So I don't think I actually have a problem with businesses
       | handing over their customer data if there is a _valid_ warrant or
       | subpoena. That 's the system working as intended.
       | 
       | The main crux of the problem _here_ is that the DHS has been
       | granted a wide berth by congress to issue _administrative_
       | subpoenas - i.e. not reviewed by a real judge and not directed at
       | criminals. In  "good" times this made investigations run
       | smoothly. But the reality now is that ICE is doing wide dragnets
       | to make arrests without any judicial oversight and often hostile
       | to habeas corpus.
       | 
       | (Also, my understanding is that when banking is involved, it may
       | also fall under the Banking Secrecy Act and Know Your Customer
       | Rules - a whole other privacy nightmare.)
       | 
       | I know we instinctively want to frame this as a privacy problem,
       | but the real problem we need congress to act on is abolishing
       | these "shadow" justice systems that agencies have been able to
       | set up.
        
         | crooked-v wrote:
         | "Administrative subpoenas" have always been bullshit that
         | mostly rely on there being no penalty for companies that hand
         | over user information to anyone with a badge and then justify
         | it with a five-hundred-page TOS document.
        
           | linkregister wrote:
           | Google, among most other tech companies, deny portions of
           | administrative warrants. Here's a story about someone who was
           | stressed out about their notification by Google (spoiler,
           | Google decided to deny the government's request)
           | 
           | https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/02/03/hom.
           | ..
           | 
           | edit: It appears that this outcome is an outlier and most
           | admin warrants are honored. It is unfortunate to see the
           | Washington Post decline in reliability like this.
        
             | legitster wrote:
             | Hence, why I wonder if this is specific their
             | credit/banking products as part of Know Your Customer
             | rules.
        
               | tadfisher wrote:
               | Google does not provide those products (not in the US, as
               | far as I am aware), but they are a money transmitter in
               | the same vein as Square/Block, Stripe, and Venmo [0].
               | They won't be directly subject to the Bank Secrecy Act,
               | but they partner with the major payment networks (who
               | have their own rules and their own partner programs with
               | banks) as part of Google Pay and customer payment
               | profiles.
               | 
               | But I don't think this matters much for this case, as DHS
               | is not investigating financial crimes. This is about what
               | discretion Google has to comply with administrative
               | warrants, which is not settled law and isn't clearly
               | spelled out in their own policy.
               | 
               | 0:
               | https://support.google.com/googlepay/answer/7160765?hl=en
        
               | legitster wrote:
               | I just looked it up, and money transmitters are included
               | in the Banking Secrecy Act as "Money Services
               | Businesses". So yes, they have KYC obligations in the
               | sense that they know where you are moving your money and
               | are obligated to tell investigators.
               | 
               | Unfortunately, KYC is used for much more than just
               | financial crimes, and the precedent to comply is much
               | more firmly established.
        
           | legitster wrote:
           | There is a case to be made that administrative subpoenas
           | _can_ be good. They save taxpayers money, they speed up
           | investigations, and they free up the court for more important
           | matters.
           | 
           | As with all things though, these agencies should not be self-
           | regulated without civilian and judicial oversight.
        
             | amanaplanacanal wrote:
             | They seem unconstitutional on their face, to me. Speeding
             | things up because the Constitution makes it too hard is a
             | bad idea.
        
         | b00ty4breakfast wrote:
         | There will always be the opportunity for the foibles of humans
         | to affect the procedures of the law. Trying to play "guess if
         | the shadowy government agency is doing the right thing this
         | week" is a losing game. They always take the proverbial mile,
         | they are not ever going to be satisfied with the inch.
        
         | LtWorf wrote:
         | > In "good" times this made investigations run smoothly.
         | 
         | These times never existed.
        
           | mindslight wrote:
           | I'm getting tired of these comments that normalize being in
           | the middle of the slippery slope as if it is merely the same
           | as being at the top of the slippery slope was. They may not
           | have been "good" times, but they were certainly _better_
           | times when government agencies at least aimed to carry out
           | their roles in good faith rather than minmaxing the rules to
           | cause the most damage to enemies of the Party. Applying
           | judgement while exercising delegated authority is exactly why
           | these agencies were given wide leeway in the first place. And
           | while we can say this was naive, it is even more naive to
           | normalize the current behavior.
        
             | worik wrote:
             | No.
             | 
             | The difference now is the number of people feeling effected
             | 
             | It always been thus for people at the margins
        
               | mindslight wrote:
               | So we agree, including that there is a difference.
        
               | shevy-java wrote:
               | But did you not disagree before? The "I am getting tired"
               | statement kind of implies that.
        
               | mindslight wrote:
               | Different commenter and different statement.
        
               | bigbadfeline wrote:
               | > So we agree, including that there is a difference.
               | 
               | No, that's a distinction without a difference. I mean, it
               | doesn't matter in the slightest if at some point in time
               | certain powers _weren 't abused_, if they're being abused
               | now the situation cannot be tolerated.
               | 
               | Arguing about how _it 's possible not to abuse the
               | system_ is a waste of time at best and a diversion at
               | worst.
        
               | mindslight wrote:
               | I'm not arguing that it's possible to not abuse the
               | system. I've recognized abuses for quite some time,
               | regardless of which political team has been in power. The
               | point is that we need to avoid normalizing our current
               | situation by pointing to previous abuses.
        
               | try_the_bass wrote:
               | > It always been thus for people at the margins
               | 
               | It's worth pointing out that "criminals" are generally
               | "people at the margins"... If for no other reason than to
               | point out that pithy comments like this are often so
               | vague as to be worthless, or even counter-productive!
               | 
               | It's also a good thing that antisocial behavior is often
               | isolated to "the margins", so your statement can even be
               | considered a good thing, by the same metric!
               | 
               | TL;DR: Twitterisms like this are stupid.
        
             | themaninthedark wrote:
             | No. Full stop.
             | 
             | Laws are supposed to be crafted to be as applied by anyone,
             | anywhere and at any time. This is why lawyers and
             | politicians are supposed to have foresight and be prudent.
             | 
             | You look at prior events and see them as justified due to
             | the people involved and situations.
             | 
             | If the US government can, for example investigate Richard
             | Spencer or some other extremist figure based on a web post,
             | then they can do the same for someone else on the other end
             | of the spectrum.
             | 
             | But even more terrifying is that they can do the same for
             | someone not in the extremes.
             | 
             | When my friends on the left held power and used it to quash
             | the speech of my friends on the right, I spoke up.
             | 
             | When my friends on the right are doing the same, I also
             | speak up.
             | 
             | The sad irony is that those not in power protest only when
             | it is not their side.
        
               | ses1984 wrote:
               | From my point of view it looks like the right only
               | protests when it's not their side.
               | 
               | That's why Al franken resigned for a dumb photo,
               | meanwhile republicans protect pedophile traffickers.
        
               | themaninthedark wrote:
               | I would say that both sides have that view.
               | 
               | Most people are in a bubble and are unaware of what their
               | tribe is doing.
               | 
               | I may be wrong but I think there have been Republicans
               | who have resigned for extra-marital sex.
               | 
               | While we are screaming about the current POTS and his
               | relation with Jeffery, we gave Bill Clinton a platform to
               | speak during the 2024 Convention. When I bring that up, I
               | get told "It's important that we beat Trump."
               | 
               | The Epstein was arrested in 2019, the files have been in
               | the hands of both Democrats and Republicans. Neither
               | group really looks like they want to prosecute anyone
               | further; only use accusations that their opponents are in
               | there to galvanize their base.
        
               | roughly wrote:
               | > Laws are supposed to be crafted to be as applied by
               | anyone, anywhere and at any time. This is why lawyers and
               | politicians are supposed to have foresight and be
               | prudent.
               | 
               | Except this is both impossible and a bad idea, which is
               | why we have judges, juries, elections, and every other
               | part of the system intended to constrain the blind
               | application of the law.
        
               | mindslight wrote:
               | What exactly are you saying "full stop" to?
               | 
               | You have said very little that addresses anything I said,
               | except to appeal to some vague sense of "both sidesism"
               | which is so far away from our current predicament that
               | the only applications I see are (1) to say "I told you
               | so", which isn't productive and widely misses the mark
               | with me (2) normalize the current situation and/or
               | absolve blame by shifting it onto the other side.
               | 
               | Investigative agencies are going to be able to
               | investigate people. So supposing that the " _US
               | government can ... investigate Richard Spencer ... based
               | on a web post_ " isn't a compelling argument unless your
               | goal is to completely reject the concept of government.
               | This can certainly be a consistent position (I've held it
               | in the past), but it's not a common one.
               | 
               | At which point it comes down to accountability for how
               | delegated powers are used - both in individual cases, and
               | to stop patterns of abuse. For example I've long argued
               | we need to neuter the concept of _sovereign immunity_ ,
               | and start routinely compensating people who are harmed by
               | the government but never convicted of breaking the law -
               | one should indeed be able to "beat the ride". So I'm not
               | waking up to this in 2025 clutching my pearls gasping "I
               | can't believe the government can just do this". I've been
               | following how the government operates unaccountably for
               | quite some time, and I'm pointing out that the current
               | regime is _still a marked escalation_.
               | 
               | This isn't to say I am pushing lame answers like "just
               | vote Democrat" (I don't consider myself a Democrat). And
               | I do agree that meaningful reform needs to be in general
               | terms (eg aforementioned sovereign immunity example). But
               | I also think that dismissing our current situation as
               | some mere extension of what has been happening for a
               | while is a terrible way of framing things.
        
             | chaps wrote:
             | And I'm getting tired of these comments that normalize the
             | awfulness of the past. We can be pragmatic in recognizing
             | that "our guys" also did bad things. Less bad than awful is
             | still bad. If we choose not to recognize our own foibles
             | then we just fall down our old patterns of "it's someone
             | else's problem".
             | 
             | Because otherwise, better than what we have now is an
             | _abysmal_ target and we should aim for better.
        
           | beepbooptheory wrote:
           | Isn't that why the scare quotes are there?
        
         | sam345 wrote:
         | I'm not an expert in fourth amendment but I do know that
         | assuming a subpoena without judicial oversight violates the
         | fourth amendment is not correct. All the fourth amendment
         | guarantees is unreasonable search and seizure. In some
         | circumstances a judicial subpoena may be necessary and others
         | not. An administrative subpoena implies that there has been a
         | legal procedure and the administrative agencies are not exactly
         | run like the wild west.
        
           | cyberax wrote:
           | DHS/ICE is in a weird constitutional spot. Most immigration
           | violations in the US are _civil_ violations. So the Fourth
           | Amendment is less applicable. It's also why detained
           | immigrants don't automatically get the right to be
           | represented by a lawyer.
           | 
           | ICE/DHS technically are just acting as marshals, merely
           | ensuring that defendants appear at court proceedings and then
           | enforcing court decisions (deportations).
        
             | epiccoleman wrote:
             | It's not really that the 4th amendment is less applicable,
             | it's that the procedural protections are lower in civil
             | proceedings.
             | 
             | I think it's a pretty big undersell to describe ICE as
             | "marshals" too - they've got plenty of discretion in how
             | they prioritize targeted people and who they detain. They
             | are not just a neutral party executing court orders.
        
               | cyberax wrote:
               | In theory yes, but in practice it's more unclear. There
               | are conflicting Supreme Court precedents, that weaken the
               | Fourth Amendment in cases where criminal penalties don't
               | apply. Asset foreiture is another example.
               | 
               | > I think it's a pretty big undersell to describe ICE as
               | "marshals" too - they've got plenty of discretion in how
               | they prioritize targeted people and who they detain. They
               | are not just a neutral party executing court orders.
               | 
               | Yep. That's also a difference between theory and
               | practice.
        
           | teachrdan wrote:
           | > An administrative subpoena implies that there has been a
           | legal procedure and the administrative agencies are not
           | exactly run like the wild west
           | 
           | Hard disagree. The fact that a government agency "reviewed"
           | its own subpoena before enforcing it does not follow the
           | spirit of the Fourth Amendment, which is to prevent
           | government overreach in taking your belongings and
           | information.
           | 
           | In fact, to take your definition of what's not unreasonable
           | to its logical conclusion, by definition any process an
           | agency came up with would be acceptable, as long as they
           | followed it.
           | 
           | I think a better definition of a reasonable search and
           | seizure would be one where a subpoena goes before a judge,
           | the target of the subpoena is notified and has the
           | opportunity to fight it, and where there are significant
           | consequences for government agents who lie or otherwise abuse
           | the process of getting a subpoena.
        
           | dylan604 wrote:
           | > All the fourth amendment guarantees is unreasonable search
           | and seizure.
           | 
           | Are you saying that by the existence of the fourth that
           | unreasonable search/seizures are guaranteed to happen? It
           | can't guarantee protection from them either.
        
           | rolph wrote:
           | The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
           | houses, papers, and effects,[a] against unreasonable searches
           | and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall
           | issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or
           | affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
           | searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
           | 
           | >>no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported
           | by Oath or affirmation<<
           | 
           | that means there must be affirmation of probable cause to an
           | overseeing body [i.e. judiciary]
           | 
           | administrative warrants are a process of "i know im right i
           | dont need someone else to look things over"
        
           | MikeNotThePope wrote:
           | If the party on the receiving end of a search needs to be a
           | lawyer to simply understand the legality of a warrant, I'd
           | argue the search is unreasonable.
        
         | shevy-java wrote:
         | I don't see how what has been described here as "the system
         | works as intended".
         | 
         | A free state should not be able to sniff after people for made
         | up reasons.
        
           | Curiositiy wrote:
           | You obviously don't live in the EU, UK.
        
           | philipallstar wrote:
           | In the sense that all reasons are made up, I suppose that
           | might be true. But while deporting illegal immigrants for no
           | other reason is totally fine, deporting the ones that also
           | have a criminal conviction is definitely not made up reasons.
        
             | fakedang wrote:
             | Yeah, and your point? ICE has already descended into
             | detaining anyone, literally anyone, because they have
             | quotas to meet. They seized a white Irishman last October
             | who had a valid work permit and was just about to head to
             | his green card interview.
             | 
             | This is Gestapo all over again.
        
               | philipallstar wrote:
               | We lock up innocent people all the time, as the court
               | system is imperfect. That doesn't make something the
               | Gestapo. And everything has been called Nazi for the last
               | ten years. How can you possibly think it's some sort of
               | novel or impactful statement in 2026?
        
               | BugsJustFindMe wrote:
               | > _We lock up innocent people all the time, as the court
               | system is imperfect. That doesn 't make something the
               | Gestapo._
               | 
               | Correct. The methods, the scale, and the targets do.
               | Refusing to ever show any identification or proof of
               | orders at all when that definitionally makes them a
               | secret police does. Repeatedly violating federal court
               | orders does
               | (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46965333).
               | Repeatedly violating habeas corpus rights does.
               | Assaulting people in the streets merely for witnessing
               | does. Let us not forget that a woman was violently shoved
               | backward to the ground while she was backing up in the
               | lead-up to the killing of Alex Pretti, and the
               | government's immediate response was repeated shameless
               | lies and hiding or destroying evidence, just like they
               | did with the killing of Renee Nicole Good, just like they
               | did with the killing of Geraldo Lunas Campos, just like
               | they did with Alberto Castaneda Mondragon, ... The list
               | doesn't end.
               | 
               | It's very weird of you to just ignore all of that.
        
               | reliabilityguy wrote:
               | > ICE has already descended into detaining anyone,
               | literally anyone,
               | 
               | Do you have a source on this claim? Sounds like fear
               | mongering to me.
        
           | reddozen wrote:
           | You can't write rules against bad actors. There will always
           | be some legal loophole a bad president can invent to exploit.
           | if not for administrative warrants we would see some other
           | _creative_ (read: illegal) use of executive power.
           | 
           | The only option is to not elect someone that doesn't respect
           | rule of law. And since I know some enlightened "centrist"
           | will play the both sides game: What's 1 thing any previous
           | president has done equivalent to violating posse comitatus.
        
             | Nasrudith wrote:
             | I strongly disagree. You should always write rules under
             | the assumption it will get in the hands of the worst
             | people. If there is a 'become god-emperor' lever in your
             | supposedly democratic government system then it is a shitty
             | system.
        
           | wombat-man wrote:
           | The archive link isn't working for me atm.
           | 
           | But tech companies should be complying with subpoenas from
           | governments in countries they would like to operate in. I
           | don't like what is happening in the US either, but to me this
           | feels like a problem with the electorate. Maybe it's possible
           | for Google to provide some of these services without actually
           | having access to the data under subpoena, but I don't know
           | enough about what services they were using or how they work.
        
           | MetaWhirledPeas wrote:
           | Re-read the first few sentences of his post.
           | 
           | > if there is a _valid_ warrant or subpoena
        
         | atoav wrote:
         | So what about the Amsterdam government handing over the records
         | to the new Nazi government in the past century? Under the back
         | then new laws this was legal and lead to the genocide of
         | countless people who happened to have the wrong belief listed
         | in that data.
         | 
         | Please never make the mistake to confuse something being legal
         | for something being fair or ethical.
        
         | godelski wrote:
         | > I know we instinctively want to frame this as a privacy
         | problem
         | 
         | I think it is, but I think this is a more fundamental level of
         | privacy than most people are thinking of when they think of
         | privacy                 > In "good" times this made
         | investigations run smoothly.
         | 
         | Privacy people often talk about a concept called "Turnkey
         | Tyranny". Really a reference to Jefferson's "elective
         | despotism". The concept is that _because_ any democracy can
         | vote themselves into an autocracy (elective despotism) that the
         | danger is the creation of that power in the first place. That
         | you don 't give Mr Rogers (or some other benevolent leader) any
         | power that you wouldn't give to Hitler (or any horrifying
         | leader).
         | 
         | Or as Jefferson put it                 The time to guard
         | against corruption and tyranny, is before they shall have
         | gotten hold of us. It is better to keep the wolf out of the
         | fold, than to trust to drawing his teeth and talons after he
         | shall have entered.            > but the real problem we need
         | congress to act
         | 
         | So no, that is not the "real problem". They should be involved
         | but there are more fundamental issues at hand. Power creeps.
         | Power creeps with good intention[0]. But there is a strong bias
         | for power to increase and not decrease. And just like power
         | creep in a movie or videogame it doesn't go away and can ruin
         | everything.
         | 
         | Jefferson himself writes a lot about this tbh. It is why we
         | have a system of checks and balances. Where the government
         | treats itself adversarially. But this is also frustrating and
         | makes things slow. So... power creeps.
         | 
         | So the real problem we need to solve is educating the populous.
         | They need to understand these complexities and nuances. If they
         | do not, they will unknowingly trade their freedom to quench
         | their fears.
         | 
         | And this is why it is a privacy problem. Because we the people
         | should _always_ treat our government adversarially. Even in the
         | "good times". _Especially_ in the  "good times". The founders
         | of the US constitution wrote extensively about this, much like
         | the privacy advocates write today. I think they would be more
         | likely to take the position of "why collect this information in
         | the first place?" than "under what conditions should this
         | information be collected?". Both are important questions, but
         | the latter should only come after the former. Both are about
         | privacy. Privacy of what is created vs privacy of what is
         | accessed.
         | 
         | [0] You mentioned banking, so a recent example might be the
         | changes in when transactions of a certain level trigger a bank
         | report. The number has changed over time, usually decreasing.
         | It's with good intention, to catch people skirting the laws.
         | You'll never get 100% of people so if this is the excuse it an
         | be a race to reporting all transactions. Maybe you're fine with
         | Mr Rogers having that data, but Hitler? You have to balance
         | these things and it isn't so easy as the environment moves. You
         | solve a major part of the problem with the first move but then
         | the Overton window changes as you've now become accustomed to a
         | different rate of that kind of fraud (and/or as adversaries
         | have adapted to it). A cat and mouse game always presents a
         | slippery slope and unless you consider these implicit
         | conditions it'll be a race to the bottom.
        
         | fc417fc802 wrote:
         | > In "good" times this made investigations run smoothly.
         | 
         | In good times they were still a blatant form of government
         | abuse however the majority were completely unaffected and so
         | didn't get riled up about it.
         | 
         | Similar to how a vigorous defense of freedom of speech is
         | somehow consistently less popular among constituents of
         | whichever party happens to be in power, as well as when applied
         | to "objectionable" political views.
        
         | h4kunamata wrote:
         | >"So I don't think I actually have a problem with businesses
         | handing over their customer data if there is a valid warrant or
         | subpoena. That's the system working as intended."
         | 
         | This person right here is the problem in our society. Things
         | never and will never get isolated to "valid warrant".
         | 
         | Look around us, social after social media in order to "protect
         | the kids", you must provide your personal information to them.
         | Many people see nothing wrong with that and yet, service after
         | service, business after business are being breached left and
         | right.
         | 
         | Discord will mandate ID verification, just recently they have
         | been breached.
         | 
         | Back to the article, if Google can do that for an immigrant,
         | what make you think that Google won't do the same with your
         | data as citizen whenever for whatever reason??
         | 
         | Don't agree with things you don't fully understand its
         | consequences.
        
           | hodgehog11 wrote:
           | Maybe it is to a child or average citizen, but I don't
           | believe that "not understanding the consequences" is the case
           | here on HN. This is just a difference in philosophy, the old
           | "freedom vs. security" tradeoff that everyone falls down on a
           | little differently. Giving up your data to a company (and
           | therefore the government) in exchange for services is a trust
           | exercise, and there are ways to avoid making it, but they
           | have significant unavoidable costs. It's an easier decision
           | when you don't fear your own government, but where you fall
           | on the spectrum rapidly changes when your government makes
           | you the target. Of course you can say "the government is
           | always going to turn on you, so you should never trust
           | them!", but you'll sound like a loon to many native citizens
           | of a Western nation that have had little to fear for decades.
           | 
           | The US is just experiencing a little more of what the
           | citizens of communist and fascist nations have experienced.
           | Over time, that might lead to rapid societal change, or maybe
           | it's too late.
        
         | singleshot_ wrote:
         | > administrative subpoenas - i.e. not reviewed by a real judge
         | 
         | I have some bad news for you about magistrates.
        
           | monocasa wrote:
           | And yet ICE can't be bothered to reach even that low bar.
        
       | xnx wrote:
       | Ragebait article. Headline should be "Google complies with court
       | order"
        
         | wffurr wrote:
         | Not actually a court order. That's the problem. Administrative
         | subpoenas don't come from a judge, and the target wasn't given
         | notice in order to challenge it in court.
        
         | JohnTHaller wrote:
         | No courts were involved
        
       | lasgawe wrote:
       | I remember someone saying that there is no privacy in large
       | companies because they make money by selling or sharing users'
       | personal data :/
        
       | lingrush4 wrote:
       | Google ought to rethink its policy of disclosing government
       | subpoenas to users. Every time this happens, the media uses it to
       | attack Google. They'd be better off leaving users in the dark
       | about these legally required data disclosures. Even if most users
       | don't go crying to the media when it happens, it's still not
       | worth it.
        
         | jajuuka wrote:
         | Ultimately it's better for the public and users to be informed
         | about this occurring though. If Google wanted to they could
         | salvage it and explain their legal duties and how that applies
         | to these situations. I don't think Google is worried though.
         | They have multiple captive markets and have seen continued
         | growth so it's obviously not affecting the bottom line.
         | 
         | It's a good contrast to Apple where any bit of bad news that
         | makes headlines becomes priority one to fix. Which just creates
         | a privileged class of users and makes the brand look fragile.
        
         | Hizonner wrote:
         | Ever occur to you that it's _good_ for Google if there 's some
         | public visibility of what Google is being forced to do?
        
       | JohnTHaller wrote:
       | Biggest thing to note is that this was a so-called
       | "administrative" warrant, not a real judicial warrant. Google did
       | this voluntary.
        
         | philipallstar wrote:
         | They're both real.
        
       | RickJWagner wrote:
       | When I was a student, I could never have gone to such lengths to
       | avoid government scrutiny.
       | 
       | He must have plenty of money.
        
       | mike_bob wrote:
       | Remember "Don't be evil"? It's crazy anyone would trust a
       | corporation with anything these days.
        
         | tjwebbnorfolk wrote:
         | It's crazy that "corporations = bad" passes as insightful
         | comment on HN these days.
        
           | Upvoter33 wrote:
           | I don't think it's as simple as "corps. = bad". It's more
           | that naive slogans like "don't be evil" used to be taken
           | seriously. Companies exist to make money. This is ok! It
           | generally works well in a capitalistic system. But to expect
           | more than that people are realizing is a pipe dream... which
           | is why you need good rules in place (i.e., regulations, laws)
           | to direct companies and their behaviors.
        
           | FrankBooth wrote:
           | Not really. HN had its Eternal September moment years ago.
        
       | tunapizza wrote:
       | https://archive.ph/e4DY7
        
       | diggyhole wrote:
       | "Journalist"
        
       | cvhc wrote:
       | Google discloses stats about government requests via FISA /
       | National Security Letters:
       | https://transparencyreport.google.com/user-data/us-national-...
       | 
       | I was in one of these published NSLs issued by FBI a few years
       | ago. I was notified by Google after the nondisclosure period.
        
         | garyfirestorm wrote:
         | care to explain how you got added to it? what happened then?
         | did you fight it?
        
           | cvhc wrote:
           | See the other comment.
           | 
           | > did you fight it?
           | 
           | I talked to university lawyers (and LLMs) regarding another
           | issue with DHS. For the sake of national security, they have
           | the legal authority. There isn't much I can do. Unless I can
           | prove they discriminated against me due to my race, national
           | origin, etc. -- which may be the case but how can I prove
           | that. I requested FOIA from DOS/DHS. What I got was basically
           | no more than the original applications I submitted.
        
         | edm0nd wrote:
         | What did you get the NSL for?
         | 
         | Did it result in you being raided?
         | 
         | Were you ever indicted or convicted of anything?
        
           | cvhc wrote:
           | I dunno. Maybe because I used to do research at a Chinese lab
           | when I was a student? That was my impression when I was once
           | questioned for many hours by DHS at the airport. It's
           | impossible to get an answer. They are granted broad legal
           | authority to screen foreign nationals.
           | 
           | No indictment. Nothing physical. But a lot of headaches like
           | delays in visa/immigrant application :shrug:
        
       | shevy-java wrote:
       | Big capital is presently running the USA. Democracy no longer
       | exists there as a factual entity - whether it is ICE agents
       | gunning down US citizens or whether it is corporations run by the
       | superrich spying on people and undermining their ability to e. g.
       | protest.
       | 
       | There is too much a focus on Trump here - one should focus on the
       | whole criminal entity. The whole network. It is true that the
       | fish starts to rot from the head (well, not quite, but it is a
       | common saying), but in reality there are numerous parts that are
       | rotting away.
       | 
       | IMO there has to be a re-distribution of both wealth and power;
       | as well as influence.
        
       | FpUser wrote:
       | Looking at what ICE does to people I think the only thing they
       | should be handed is a noose around their necks. Just read at what
       | they do in their concentration camps and on the streets. Even if
       | "lawful", governments that approve such treatment in my opinion
       | do not belong in decent human world.
        
       | dmix wrote:
       | For more context see the Cornell article from last year
       | 
       | > The first email, sent on May 8 from Cornell International
       | Services, stated that his immigration status had been terminated
       | by the federal government. The second email, sent from Google on
       | the same day, notified him that his personal email account had
       | been subject to a subpoena by the U.S. Department of Homeland
       | Security on March 31.
       | 
       | https://www.cornellsun.com/article/2025/11/immigration-autho...
       | 
       | Basically he was a British national with a student visa who was
       | going to be deported for pro-palestian activism (under Trumps
       | executive order mandating immigration authorities to do so), so
       | he self-deported. Other's mention in the thread it's not clear if
       | Google handed over any information.
        
       | fourseventy wrote:
       | "Google complies with federal warrant", more news at 11
        
         | philipallstar wrote:
         | Well, yes.
        
       | tamimio wrote:
       | > on tech companies to resist similar subpoenas in the future
       | from DHS without court intervention.
       | 
       | Haha nice one, these tech companies are willing to have a deal
       | with devil to get those lucrative Gov contracts, and since it's
       | the the wild west now in the US, the only action users can do is
       | abandoning all these tech companies and look for alternatives.
        
       | jsrozner wrote:
       | "full extent of the information...including any IP masking
       | services"
       | 
       | This suggests that Google aggregates _derived_ information based
       | on how a user uses Google (i.e. VPN info). The fact that
       | _derived_ info was also potentially passed along is particularly
       | upsetting to me.
       | 
       | Aside from the fact that I don't think companies should be able
       | to collect user data at all (if you disagree, I think there's a
       | good chance you're at least a little bit fascist), this amounts
       | to Google providing free surveillance services to the government.
       | 
       | If you squint, it's minority-report-esque: eventually Google will
       | tell the govt who it thinks is likely to commit crimes based on
       | how they interact with its AIs. Almost certainly coming to a
       | society near you soon.
        
       | LightBug1 wrote:
       | LOL, any of you still using Google? I'm down to 5%.
       | 
       | 2026 will be the year I get to 0%.
       | 
       | edit: "directly using"
        
       | dev_l1x_be wrote:
       | Centralised bank system, centralised internet, centralised power.
       | What could possibly go wrong?
        
       | urbandw311er wrote:
       | The title should be Google handed _over_ these things. Otherwise
       | it reads as though they were handed _to_ Google.
        
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       (page generated 2026-02-10 23:00 UTC)