John Simpson, a privacy advocate for the non-profit consumer rights group Consumer Watchdog, said no less than a zero retention policy will suffice, arguing that since most users of Google or Yahoo return daily they are constantly providing a new stream of personal data. His group wants users to have the option to control their data and browse anonymously.
Continue reading...Wednesday, December 17, 2008
But Some Say Not Enough Data Are Purged John Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog, said in a statement, "If data is not completely anonymous, this is nothing more than PR." Simpson's consumer group called for major search engines to match the policy of IXQuick, a Danish search engine that deletes all personal data after 48 hours.
Continue reading...Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Google's arch-rival, Mircrosoft, has just announced it will anonymize all private data it collects during online searches after six months if its competitors do the same thing. As explained by ...
Continue reading...Saturday, November 1, 2008
Perhaps the biggest threat to Google Inc.'s increasing dominance of Internet search and advertising is the rising fear, justified or not, that Google's broadening reach is giving it unchecked power. "Google Suggest" sends Google searches as you type, in hopes of anticipating your desires. So if you're keying in "Electoral College 2008 election," Google will offer multiple search queries along the way. First you'd be given results related to the term "electoral," then ones on the Electoral College in general, and finally you'd get links pertaining to Tuesday's presidential vote. This is what worries Consumer Watchdog: Say you key in something that could be embarrassing or deeply personal, but reconsider before you press "Enter." The autosuggest feature still sends this phrase to Google's servers, tied to your computer's numeric Internet Protocol (IP) address.
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Thursday, December 18, 2008
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