Worried About the YouTube Order? You Didn't Have Any Privacy Anyway

A federal judge in New York, presiding over Viacom's $1 billion copyright suit against Google, has ordered Google to give Viacom a three terabyte database showing every clip users have watched on Google-owned YouTube, the Internet's largest video site. Here's a YouTube video that explains it all to you, with musical accompaniment.

U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton, an 81 year old Reagan appointee, issued the order, renewing concerns among privacy advocates that Internet companies like Google are collecting unprecedented amounts of private information that could be misused or be obtained by third parties.

Judge Stanton ordered Google to provide Viacom with records revealing the users' log-in identities and the Internet addresses for their computers. Both companies say discussions are underway to anonymize the logs.

A great deal of shock, outrage, and dismay has been expressed about this breach of privacy, but the bottom line is, we already had no privacy.

And if you were going to comment that this is what we get for spending so much time online, try reading the privacy agreement on your credit card, or your medical insurance. Even your laser printer may be spying on you.

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