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   https://www.businessinsider.com/google-can-give-police-keyword-d   
   ta-from-search-histories-2020-10   
      
   Documents from an arson attack linked to the R Kelly investigation show how   
   Google hands 'keyword' search data to police   
      
   Isobel Asher Hamilton   
      
   5-6 minutes   
      
       A court document relating to an alleged associate of singer   
       R Kelly show that police investigators sent something   
       called a "keyword warrant" to Google. Police were looking   
       into an arson attack on a car outside the home of a witness   
       in the R Kelly case. Google provided IP addresses of   
       everyone who'd searched for the arson victim's address   
       within a certain timeframe, which allowed police to   
       pinpoint a suspect. The arson victim is a witness involved   
       in the ongoing sexual racketeering case against R Kelly.   
       The suspect, Michael Williams, is a family relation of R   
       Kelly's former publicist. The warrant shows how police are   
       increasingly able to issue broad warrants to tech   
       companies, rather than focusing on individuals.   
      
   A newly unsealed court document related to an alleged associate   
   of singer R Kelly shows how Google can hand over data about   
   what people search to the police.   
      
   The court filing was submitted in July but unsealed on   
   Wednesday. It details a police investigation into an arson   
   attack on a car outside of the home of a witness involved in   
   the ongoing sexual racketeering case against R Kelly.   
      
   The court document showed that investigators linked Michael   
   Williams - a family relation of R Kelly's former publicist - to   
   the arson by sending something called a "keyword warrant" to   
   Google. Specifically, police asked Google for any data on   
   "users who had searched the address of the residence close in   
   time to the arson."   
      
   Google sent a list of IP addresses that had searched for the   
   arson victim's address. Two IP addresses were linked to   
   Williams' phone number, which police then used to track the   
   phone's location. They were then able to determine the device   
   was near the victim's car at the time of the arson attack.   
      
   Per CNET, investigators then obtained a warrant for Williams'   
   personal search history, which showed he'd searched for the   
   terms: "where can i buy a .50 custom machine gun," "witness   
   intimidation," and "countries that don't have extradition with   
   the United States."   
      
   Although requests for broad data sets to tech giants from   
   police are not new, this case lays out exactly how tech   
   companies co-operate with officers.   
      
   "We require a warrant and push to narrow the scope of these   
   particular demands when overly broad, including by objecting in   
   court when appropriate," Richard Salgado, Google's director of   
   law enforcement and information security, told CNET.   
      
   "These data demands represent less than 1% of total warrants   
   and a small fraction of the overall legal demands for user data   
   that we currently receive," he added.   
      
   The original warrant sent to Google has not yet been unsealed,   
   but Williams' attorney Todd Spodek said he planned to challenge   
   its legality, per CNET. "Think of the ramifications in the   
   future if everyone who searched something in the privacy of   
   their own home was subject to interviews by federal agents,"   
   Spodek said.   
      
   Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance   
   Technology Oversight Project, also told CNET he thought keyword   
   warrants could be in violation of the Fourth Amendment.   
      
   "When a court authorizes a data dump of every person who   
   searched for a specific term or address, it's likely   
   unconstitutional," said Cahn.   
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