Not since the 1999 hit American Pie have I heard the word “sex” and “apple pie” in the same sentence. That is, until the New York Times ran What’s Obscene? Google Could Have an Answer on Tuesday.

According to defense attorney Lawrence Walter’s evidence presented in a deposition in pornographic Web site case, more people in Pensacola, Fla. Google “orgy” than “apple pie.” Why is Walters comparing porn to apple pie? Because apple pie is wholesome, nostalgic, and All-American. For Walters, apple pie represents traditional values in America and this data proves that more people are interested in sex than pie.

All American Pie references aside, a judge in Florida will decide soon whether Google Trends will be permissible evidence in a court of law and, more importantly, if Google Trends, which allows users to search topics and see how frequently the topics have been searched on Google over time, is an appropriate way to quantify what a community finds morally acceptable.

The Supreme Court has interpreted the First Amendment to not protect obscene materials and subsequently ruled that what is obscene varies from community to community and changes over time. That ruling has made obscenity nearly impossible to define overall, much less on a community level.

Google may now allow people to conclusively define ambiguous legal definitions, like the phrase “community standards.” This new technology may allow for some sort of quantified definition to apply. Google Trends’ access to what people are really thinking and doing may make it easier to get quantitative data about a community’s intangible values.

There has long been an enormous difference between what people say is acceptable and what they do behind closed doors. The old saying “Do as I say, not as I do” comes to mind. Google Trends is opening up a whole new world of transparency. No longer does transparency apply only in a supply channel, business industry sort of way. Google reveals what is going on behind closed doors, closed bedroom doors. Maybe what people are afraid of is Google exposing the dirty little secrets they hold.

I think there is a very strong correlation between what someone Googles and what they find acceptable and any way to quantify something so intangible is a valuable tool. As today’s society becomes more and more transparency in order to function, will the legal system keep up? Or will obsolete practices prevail?