Thanks to Google, children are a lot safer now after the company busted a child pornographer through Picasa library search. However, this act has rattled a few feathers as it raises questions about Google's access to consumer data. The story began when the police raided the residence of a man in Woodland, California, on evidence that the owner was in possession of child pornography. However, court documents revealed that the evidence came from Google's central scanning initiative, which had managed to detect child porn images in the man's account.
This doesn't come as much of a surprise, as Google's anti-child porn efforts are well known and highly regarded. Still, some pundits are surprised that Google has access to individual Picasa libraries, which could mean users are in danger of Google snooping around in their accounts. However, Google claims it does not search image indiscriminately, but instead performs an automated search that searches for image fingerprints that have been flagged by law enforcement.
Any known suspicious activity is then forwarded to the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children, which happened in this particular case.
The culprit behind this massive bust is 40 year old Raul Gonzales. According to CBS Sacramento, Gonzales was arrested for having more than 3,000 child pornographic material on his cellphone.
The investigation into Gonzales began back in March when Google found 2 child pornographic material on Picasa. It was later revealed that these images belonged to the 40 year old. Moving forward, Google made contact with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Interestingly enough, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children found more images of child pornography content on Gonzales' Tumblr account, which forced the agency to get the feds involved.
Furthermore, it is understood that Gonzales had images of a 9-year old family member. He even admitted to sexually assaulting the toddler, which is quite sickening.
CBS Sacramento also reported that whenever Google comes across an image that resembles a child in a compromising situation, an employee will personally investigate the image to make sure that the child is not just being given a harmless bath.
