Google to reduce history of personal searches
13 June 2007
Summary
Google has agreed to reduce the length of time it stores individual Web search results from two years to 18 months in response to criticism by privacy activists and the European Union. (These results are "gathered every time Google’s search engine is used, [giving] indications of the searcher’s tastes and interests.") After 18 months, search data will be made anonymous although it will not be deleted.
Things to think about when reading this article
The concerns raised by privacy groups against Google relate to restricting the ways in which the company can mine user data for its own purposes. One group working on this issue is the independent European advisory body on data protection and privacy, Article 29 Data Protection Working Party. They are working to restrict data use and protect privacy by requiring that:
- Data should only be kept for specific purposes.
- Data should only be available to specifically designated law enforcement authorities where necessary for the investigation, detection, and prosecution of offences.
- The types of user data the company stores should be kept to a minimum.
- Storage of data for public safety purposes should be separated from that used for business purposes.
- Data kept for public safety reasons cannot be used for other purposes by providers of communication services or networks.
These privacy principles are critically important because technology now enables the capture of user information on a scale unparalleled in history. Although data collection can make fighting crime easier, the flip side of the coin is that this process of data collection has the potential to invade the privacy of every single law abiding citizen as well and represents a clear threat to our basic freedoms and values.
The following questions might not be ones you ask yourself every morning when you look in the mirror, but the answers could have a significant impact on your privacy and quality of life. If information about you that might be considered detrimental (that you are gay, have a chronic illness, take anti-depressants, are Muslim, etc.) is shared with potential employers, insurers, and the like, it may affect what you can do.
- Who (if anyone) should have the right to see everything you have done or said online? And under what circumstances?
- What checks and balances should be in place before law enforcement can have access to records of all your online activity?
- What right does a service provider have to the information you enter on its site? Is it their data or your private information? For example, if you used the Google search engine to research a medical condition, or exchanged e-mail with your doctor about it using Google's e-mail system, G-mail, Google would store that information.
- Does Google have the right to keep and use your information?
- Does it have the right to use your information to improve the service the company gives you or for other commercial purposes?
- Does it have the right to sell information about your medical condition to advertisers or others—for example, to the company you work for or to your insurance carrier?
Pay attention to the ongoing privacy discussions and make your opinion heard by your elected officials. And keep Orwell’s 1984 as a commentary of the past, not of our future.
