Hinter dem Titel „Google has captured your mind“ findet sich eine (auf den anglo-amerikanischen Raum zentrierte) Rechtsgeschichte über die Verteidigung der freien Meinungsäußerung als Folge freien Denkens. Wer online sucht offenbart sein Denken, daher gehören auch Suchbegriffe, Onlineprofile und andere Datensammlungen geschützt.
In the digital age, computers are an essential and intertwined supplement to our thoughts and our memories. […] Virtually every computer “program we use is a type of thinking aid—whether the task is to remember things (an address book), to organize prose (a word processor), or to keep track of friends (social network software).” These technologies have become not just aids to thought but also part of the thinking process itself. […] Search engines in particular bear a special connection to the processes of thought. […] A transcript of search queries and links followed is a close approximation to a transcript of the operation of your mind. In the logs of search engine companies are vast repositories of intellectual wonderings, questions asked, and mental whims followed. Similar logs exist for Internet service providers and other new technology companies. And the data contained in such logs is eagerly sought by government and private entities interested in monitoring intellectual activity, whether for behavioral advertising, crime and terrorism prevention, and possibly other, more sinister purposes.
Der Artikel ist ein Exzerpt von Niel Richards‘ Buch „Intellectual Privacy: Rethinking Civil Liberties in the Digital Age“ und offenbart ideengeschichtliche und rechtstheoretische Zugänge zum Thema „Schutz des freien Willens“.