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A Google manager has confirmed the existence of a project called Dragonfly, whose reports were published last month, VentureBeat reported.
Project Dragonfly refers to Google's plan to launch a search engine in China that would block search terms and sensitive websites banned by the Chinese government.
The project is supposed to be Google's attempt to return to China. Eight years ago, Google left mainland China after being bumped into Beijing for censorship problems with search results and a cyberattack against Gmail users. Besides Google, the other sites blocked in China are Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Keith Enright, Google's Privacy Officer, confirmed Wednesday at a Senate hearing that the search engine giant was actually working on the Dragonfly project, although it did not go unnoticed. did not specify what the project covered.
Enright also said that Google was not preparing to launch the research tool in China and that if it materialized, he and his team would actively participate in it to ensure a process of controlling the search engine. appropriate confidentiality.
Several senators questioned Enright about the project at the hearing of the Senate Committee on Trade, Energy and Transportation on protecting the privacy of consumer data. Representatives from Apple, Amazon, Twitter, Charter Communications and AT & T were also present.
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"There is a Dragonfly project," said Enright in response to Senator Ted Cruz's questions. "I'm not clear on the outlines of what's in range or out of reach" for Dragonfly.
When asked for his opinion, whether China undertakes to censor its citizens or not, Enright responded that it was not certain to have an informed opinion on the question.
Dragonfly is said to have been designed to suppress content deemed sensitive by the Chinese Communist Party regime, including information on human rights, peaceful protests, political dissidents and democracy.
Intercept has described this product as a censored search engine for China, which links users 'searches to their home phone numbers, making it easier for authorities to monitor users' queries.
Human rights groups have criticized the project as saying that this could cause Google to contribute directly or become complicit in human rights abuses. Another concern that goes beyond censorship is that data stored by Google on the Chinese mainland may be accessible to Chinese authorities who may target journalists and political activists.
Google employees, along with six members of the Senate, signed a letter protesting the project.
"It's a blow for the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party to force Google, the world's largest search engine, to comply with their censorship requirements and set a worrying precedent for other companies seeking to do business in China. values, "reads the letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
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