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Google won’t comment on a potentially massive leak of its search algorithm documentation
(www.theverge.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
You make some good points. But consider this. This data was publicly leaked by hackers. These hackers, if we go by precedent, will probably get away Scott free. sure it was very difficult to find this data, but not impossible. On the other hand a government if faced with a breach like this, would probably find the hackers and detain them as threats to national security, as we've seen with Edward Snowden.
Though our system isn't perfect, i think that having a corrupt Google is better than a corrupt government in this case. As you said, Google can be corrupt, but the government can step in and take over, whereas, if a government decides that it's access to citizens data is important enough, they can continue with corruption with less resistance. I mean, who guards the guards right?
FOIA requests generally don't involve hackers or leaks. The act exists because citizens insisted that government provides visibility into its inner workings.
What is the equivalent for Google, or any other private company?