Data from Google Trends is being used in Pensacola, FL to settle a legal question in an obscenity trial; the argument raised by the defense is that if Google's data shows that the term (for instance) "orgy" is a more popular search criterion than, say, "NASCAR," then clearly the community at large embraces the result of that search and it cannot be considered obscene by community standards.
This is a fascinating problem on many levels. It is obvious to even an occasional user of the internet that many of the people who surreptitiously searched for "orgy" themselves consider the material obscene; this is why they sought it out on the anonymous internet rather than waltzing into a Borders and buying it along with a latte and a copy of Real Simple. In this case, while the searchers have preserved their individual anonymity, they have left their community with its pants down; data concerning purchase of "dirty magazines" would be much more difficult to track if it were all in the form of individual purchases in stores.
Aside from the irony of the dilemma - individual vs. community anonymity - there is also the thorny legal question of using Google results to decide a case at law. The product of a Google search is the most ephemeral of ephemera; the company admits and boasts that the algorithms used for searching are updated constantly. Less subtly, the same sticking point exists here as with electronic voting; you put great power in the hands of an unelected, well, programmer. As with any power, we must carefully consider who will be wielding it and what will be the surety against its misuse before accepting it in our society.
