The Internet’s most used search engine, Google, recently announced that it will be changing its practices regarding how much, how long, and what data it logs from users searches. Currently, Google logs what keywords people search for, their IP address, and other information like Web cookies which authenticate the Internet user and keep information to make the site more customized for that particular individual. Some people are saying that Google needs to respect its users privacy better and should not keep this much data. One practical use of these logs would be the government using them to identify that a particular computer performed a certain action. Privacy advocates don’t believe that this information should be available and the fact that Google tracks this much information could be a major privacy issue should Google’s servers be exposed by hackers; similar to what AOL has recently experienced when it accidently exposed the search history of over 650,000 users on the Internet.
At the time being, all the information that Google currently tracks is kept forever. There is no system in place to delete or disguise this information after a certain amount of time. Google’s proposed plan would make the last eight bits of the IIP address anonymous and also disguise the cookie information so it wouldn’t be able to identify one particular user. This data would be storied in its entirety for up to 18 to 24 months when it would be disguised so that it couldn’t be associated to one user. Once this plan has been implemented, it will go back to its current data logs and anonymize their old information as well. Google users will have the option of opting out of this process however.
Many privacy advocates still don’t believe that Google is doing enough to protect the privacy of its users even with these steps. Anonymizing the last 8 bits of an IP address still narrows it down to 256 possible computers and users which may be enough for investigators to obtain information that they should not be able to. Most people who are demanding Google change its ways don’t believe that just changing the information it stores will get the job done. They want the data to be ultimately destroyed and not stored. If Google insists on keeping this private information, it shouldn’t be stored for more than 6 months. They do not believe there is any reason to store IP addresses and cookie information. Of all the major search engines, Google is known to store more information about its user’s searches than any others.
Google claims that it need to retain the entire IP address for at least 18 months in order to track usage patterns and diagnose problems. Many European governments also require search engines retain data in its entirety for 18 to 24 months, or longer in some cases. Regardless of what Google ultimately decides, they will have to comply with the law in each country. Although Google stores a surprising amount of data from each of its users, it is the only major search engine to try to protect it from the government.
The issue of Google and its privacy policy has become increasingly important with its recent acquisition of DoubleClick. Three separate public interest groups are in the process of filing a complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) because they believe the acquisition is a threat to the privacy of consumers. Access to DoubleClick’s servers would supply Google with a large amount of data about the consumer activity of Internet users. Estimates include 233 million North American users, 314 million European users and over 1.1 billion Internet users around the world whose privacy would be impacted by this acquisition. The complaint filed with the FTC would also include an investigation of Google’s current policy of storing data and require Google to make it easier for users to request a copy of what information is being stored in association with them. The collaboration of these 2 companies and their data would supply Google with an excessive amount of information that would make it unfair for competing companies and dangerous to those whose data is stored and collected by Google.
