The Google logo in Beijing. Photo: Visual China Group/Getty Images
Google's upper management is forcing employees to delete a confidential memo detailing a censored search engine the company is planning to launch in China, reports The Intercept.
Why it matters: Google employees have had internal protests over the search engine, codenamed Dragonfly, given the engine would enable the company to censor and track Chinese citizens.
The details: The search engine requires users to log in to use its search features and tracks user's locations. It shares user's history with a Chinese partner. All searches would be connected to a personal phone number and user movements, along with the IP address of the device they used, would be recorded.
Driving the news: The memo was released earlier this month, but Google personnel is emailing employees who they believe have saved copies of the memo with an order to immediately delete it.
- The emails are being tracked with "pixel trackers" notifying human resources managers when the messages have been read.