Google's plans to revive search in China got a turn in the spotlight Wednesday during a Senate committee hearing about Americans' online data privacy.
Google, which was among the handful of companies that sent a top executive to testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, was asked repeatedly about its reported plans to resume providing a search engine in China after pulling out of that market eight years ago over censorship issues.
In August, the Intercept reported that Google had decided to launch a search engine in China that would yield to that nation's laws and blacklist certain search terms, such as human rights, democracy, religion and more. Also, a research scientist who quit working at Google in August over the issue, Jack Poulson, wrote the Senate committee leaders a letter with details about the project, dubbed Dragonfly. For example, Poulson claims that the company has a prototype interface that would allow a partner Chinese company access to users' search history based on their phone numbers _ a concern given the government's history of cracking down on dissidents.
"How will Google square its stated privacy values with this flawed Chinese search engine and the very real possibility that it may be used to repress human rights?" asked Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire.
As he did several times during the hearing, which was livestreamed, Google Chief Privacy Officer Keith Enright said the company is "not close" to launching a search engine in China. "If we were, my team would be actively engaged," he added.
Enright later said, in response to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, that "there is a Project Dragonfly," but that in his capacity as the company's chief privacy officer, he was "not clear on the contours of the scope of the project."
Google's head of search, Ben Gomes, also told this news organization earlier this week that the project is in its "exploratory" stages.
Poulson, the former Googler, also noted in his letter that details about Project Dragonfly were "discussed extensively" internally, and that "such discussion has since been increasingly stifled."
When asked about Poulson's letter, a Google spokeswoman would only refer to the company's initial statement about Project Dragonfly, that the company has "been investing for many years to help Chinese users," but that it is "not close" to launching search there.
Other tech giants didn't escape questions about China. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, asked Apple and Amazon executives about their companies' policies in that nation, including how much they "comply with Chinese demands."
"We make products for customers, not countries," said Guy Tribble, vice president for software technology at Apple. "Our values and beliefs don't change from country to country."
"Customers have control over their data," said Andrew DeVore, vice president and associate general counsel for Amazon. However, he said Amazon operates through a Chinese-owned subsidiary there, as required by law.
