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A new lawsuit in Manhattan pitting the U.S. Department of Justice against Google offers a rare glimpse of how determined prosecutors are to defend a process that allows federal agents to gain warrantless access to user records, and how committed the Mountain View, Calif., company is to defending its customers' privacy rights against what it views as illegal requests.

The Justice Department's lawsuit, filed April 22 and not disclosed until this article, was sparked by Google's decision to rebuff the FBI's legal demands for confidential user data. It centers on the bureau's controversial use of … Read more

The heartless are everywhere.

Sometimes they are men, sometimes women. Sometimes they are simply beings beyond definition.

Why, I remember one proud woman telling me that she had dumped her man. He came to reason with her, to plead even.

"He was crying," she gloated afterwards, as if she'd scored some great victory. And to think the only reason she'd dumped him was that she'd discovered he was a drug dealer. Yes, it was only pot.

It's interesting, therefore, to witness the reactions to a Google Street View shot that has been propelled to … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco premiere of the movie "The Internship" had a mix of celebrity, full-length gowns, multi-colored beanies, and wearable tech. It was not quite a red-carpet affair, though there was a very short one, and some Google interns did show up in fancy dresses. The stars, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, were after all going to be there, though they showed up in T-shirts and jeans.

Thursday night's screening and Q&A at the Kabuki theaters in San Francisco would be the first time many at Google, including 100 interns, would see … Read more

The man who discovered how to grow bacteria in a small dish is the subject of the latest Google Doodle.

Julius Petri, who would've turned 161 years old on Friday, May 31, created the laboratory place-setting that bears his name. Working as an assistant to bacteriologist Robert Koch in the 1870s, Petri developed the process of applying bacteria cultures onto a dish to see how they grow. Such a process paved the way for researchers to learn which bacteria were responsible for different diseases.

The interactive Google Doodle simulates how little beasties progress through their formative moments in an … Read more

A federal judge has ruled that Google must comply with the FBI's warrantless requests for confidential user data, despite the search company's arguments that the secret demands are illegal.

CNET has learned that U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco rejected Google's request to modify or throw out 19 so-called National Security Letters, a warrantless electronic data-gathering technique used by the FBI that does not need a judge's approval. Her ruling came after a pair of top FBI officials, including an assistant director, submitted classified affidavits.

The litigation taking place behind closed doors in … Read more

A Google Maps engineer who reportedly worked on bringing accurate map data to the platform is on his way to Microsoft, according to a new report.

TechCrunch reported on Thursday that Raj Shah, a Google Maps engineer, has moved on to Microsoft, where he will presumably work with the company on Bing Maps. According to TechCrunch, Microsoft confirmed his hire to its reporter.

Shah's LinkedIn page still lists his title as engineering director at Google. He started with the search company in March 2006.

CNET has contacted Microsoft to confirm Shah's hire. We will update this story when … Read more

Google admonished its users to be more careful with passwords in a blog post on Thursday, but two security experts say that tech giant should spend more time pressuring developers and companies to do more to help their customers.

Google's tips encompass password basics: use a different password for each important service; make your password hard to guess; keep your password somewhere safe; and set a recovery option.

"For the general consumer, I think it's a fantastic start," said Alex Salazar, CEO of Stormpath, an authentication service for developers. But, he said, "everything they said … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Instagram is not a photography company.

That message, which might shock some of the 100 million-plus people who have uploaded more than 5 billion photos to Instagram, is what co-founder Kevin Systrom made clear during a discussion tonight among him and co-founder Mike Krieger and Digg founder and Google Ventures partner Kevin Rose.

The discussion, part of the Commonwealth Club's Inforum series, was an opportunity for hundreds of Instagram fans to hear first-hand a bit of the history -- and perhaps some of the future -- of the popular photo-sharing app. Even if that's not … Read more

Ever wondered how many calories are in a burrito? How about grams of fat in a donut? Or, carbs in a potato?

All of these food and nutrition stats, and more, can now be found on Google Search. The Web giant announced Thursday that it was introducing detailed nutrition information for more than 1,000 fruits, vegetables, meats, and meals in both its desktop and mobile search.

"From the basics of potatoes and carrots to more complex dishes like burritos and chow mein, you can simply ask, 'How much protein is in a banana?' or 'How many calories are … Read more