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That would seem to be the future, with the way some of these technology firms such as Google and Yahoo are working with oppressive governments like China. One has to wonder what they will do in a country that has Sharia implemented by Islamofascists.

Privacy fears hit Google search

A leading US digital rights campaign group has warned against using Google software which lets people organise and find information on their computers.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the latest version of Google Desktop posed a risk to privacy.

This is because a feature in the software lets Google keep personal data on its servers for up to 30 days.

I'm willing to bet individuals in China will not be interested in that feature. Of course, who says they will be given a choice?

Google says it plans to encrypt all data transferred from users' hard drives and restrict access.

Yeah, but they said they don't censor search results, until the Chinese government opened up a lucrative market to them.

"Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF staff attorney Kevin Bankston.

Unfortunately the article errs at this point. See my previous post, the government was not interested in personal data at all but only the types of searches conducted.

"We think this will be a very useful tool, but you will have to give up some of your privacy," said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience.

"For many of us, that trade off will make a lot of sense."

Yes, I bet it makes a lot of sense to the authorities in China and I'm sure Yahoo would agree.

Another cyberdissident imprisoned because of data provided by Yahoo

...had discovered that Yahoo ! customer and cyberdissident Li Zhi had been given his eight-year prison sentence in December 2003 based on electronic records provided by Yahoo. “How many more cases are we going to find ?” it asked.

“We were sure the case of Shi Tao, who was jailed for 10 years last April on the basis of Yahoo-supplied data, was not the only one. Now we know Yahoo works regularly and efficiently with the Chinese police.

“The firm says it simply responds to requests from the authorities for data without ever knowing what it will be used for. But this argument no longer holds water. Yahoo certainly knew it was helping to arrest political dissidents and journalists, not just ordinary criminals. The company must answer for what it is doing at the US congressional hearing set for February 15.”

[...]

resistance is futile