Google changes data rules
p2pnet.net news:- One of ‘Do no evil’ Google’s problems has always been the fear that it won’t live up to its maxim if pushed.
It keeps logs of all searches, “along with digital identifiers linking them to specific computers and Internet browsers,” says The New York Times, but it say it’s going to start to make the logs anonymous, “after 18 to 24 months, making it much harder to connect search records to a person,” says the story.
“Under current practices, the company keeps the logs intact indefinitely.”
Will the measure make any real difference to anything?
“This is an extremely positive development,” The Washington Post has the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Ari Schwartz saying. “It’s the type of thing we have been advocating for a number of years.”
But, “I think it is an absolute disaster for online privacy,” the NYT quotes said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, declaring. He said t18 to 24 months, “was too long, and added that because of Google’s dominant position, it would most likely set a de facto standard for data retention”.
Google deputy general counsel says the company would release search data only if compelled by a subpoena, according to the NYT.
In a demonstration of privacy risks posed by search engines, “Time Warner Inc.’s AOL last summer released 19 million search requests on the Internet as part of a research project,” says the Washington Post.
“Although only sets of numbers were attached to the requests, the information was used to identify some of the people behind the AOL searches.”
Also See:
The New York Times – Google Adds a Safeguard on Privacy for Searchers, March 15, 2007
The Washington Post – Google to Adopt New Privacy Measures, March 15, 2007
used to identify – AOL data release debacle, August 8, 2006
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March 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
the data they ALREADY have???
Does anyone think for one split second that they’ll fix THOSE records to be ‘anonymouse’, too???