Google boosts searchability of state data

Stephen Withers
Monday, 30 April 2007 10:55

Your IT - Home IT

Google is working with the governments of four US states to improve the accessibility of public information.

State governments are required or opt to make a variety of types of information available to the public, and many do so via the web. But the way some sites provide a window into databases means the information is not visible to search engines but remains part of the so-called 'deep' or 'invisible web'.

Arizona, California, Utah and Virginia have announced partnerships aimed at making such data searchable via Google.

For example, Arizona's database of licensed real estate professionals, Californian health and education services, Utah's job vacancy listings, and Virginia's historical archive are now all accessible through Google searches.

Google helped implement these improvements at no cost to the states, company officials said.

"California state government provides tremendous resources online for the public to learn about our great state," said California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. "Our partnership with Google will empower Californians to know more about our government and provide better access to services and helpful information."

"Connecting citizens with their government by offering the public better access to public sector information and services is consistent with our broader vision – to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," said Eric Schmidt, Google's chairman and CEO. "These partnerships are among many that Google is pursuing with government agencies to better serve the public."

Privacy issues arise whenever information is made accessible online. The problem in this situation is that in many cases the information is part of the public record. Improving searchability makes it easier for people and organisations to amass information about individuals, and increases the risk of widespread disclosure if information is mistakenly made available online.