Washington Post: The Justice Department may have done us all a big favor by issuing subpoenas to Internet search engines to find out what people are researching online.

Not because that data could help shield children from online porn, which was the government’s stated goal in demanding data from Google and three other search firms. Rather, the request — and Google’s refusal to fork over its search data — is putting a helpful public spotlight on the vast amount of personal information being stored, parsed and who knows what else by the Web services we increasingly rely on to manage our lives. column

Also, Maureen Dowd doesn’t want Cheney ogling her Googling. column

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