Search Engine Privacy Explained

Kesch writes "Zdnet has a posted a FAQ describing the storage of personal information done by the search engines of AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and, of course, Google. They describe what information is stored, how it is stored, what laws protect it (none), how you can attempt to protect your privacy, and what Congress is doing with regards to the issue."

Speak for yourself

[Anonymous Coward]

They describe what information is stored, how it is stored, what laws protect it (none)

As a company operating in the UK, and as I am a citizen of the UK, m privacy is protected by the Data Protection Act [opsi.gov.uk]. I have the right to demand access to my data, and they are legally obliged to give it to me. If I find it to be incorrect, they are obliged to correct it. They can only use this data in the manner in which they are registered to use it with the Data Protection Registrar, and they can only share it with others under strict rules.

As I understand it, the rest of the EU have similar laws.

opt out...

[mytrip]

Google lets you remove your phone number from their database so other people can't look you up. They ought to let you remove your search history from their databases as well. I'm going to suggest this in their support forums.

Anyone entering dodge search terms

[Ph33r th3 g(O)at]

and not taking the easily available countermeasures (e.g. TOR, JAP) is playing with fire. But this isn't necessarily bad news for Google--if they can charge a "reasonable fee," they could make complying with subpoenas from prosecutors on fishing expeditions, the entertainment cartel, and divorce attorneys into a profit center!

Ah, yes, the federal government

[typical]

...and what Congress is doing with regards to the issue.

That would be *other* than seizing our search data to try to prove that porn should be banned on the Internet, I assume.

Re:opt out...

[The Cisco Kid]

They do. Just log in to your google account and click 'Search History' (at the top), then 'Remove items' (on the left) - As well as the ability to remove individual searches or clicked results, there is also a "Clear entire Search History" option.

Become Private

[Slashdotgirl]

The following are just some of the programs, which provide a level of both encryption and anonymous communication for Internet usage:

• Tor: Onion-based routing that acts as a proxy layer between the client computer and the Tor network. http://tor.eff.org/ [eff.org]

• I2P: Also known as the Invisible Internet Project. The network is regarded as a message based system. http://www.i2p.net/ [i2p.net]

• FreeNet: is a distributed information and storage retrieval system designed to address the concerns of privacy. Freenet is designed to be anonymous and totally peer to peer. http://freenetproject.org/ [freenetproject.org]

• GNUnet: is a P2P network that can support many different forms of peer-to-peer applications. http://gnunet.org/ [gnunet.org]

There are other programs and if you do not want your "private details" known then you would be wise to use them. In addition, anyone who thinks their private data that is held by organisations and government departments is safe whether there is a "Data Protection Act" or not then they should think twice for example the "National Security Agency eavesdropping on Americans incident". This is not the first time nor will it be the last time that such incidents will occur. Without being anonymous, we can never have true freedom of speech.

Re:Worst Case Scenario

[zaajats]

Actually the kid "who got arrested" made up the story.

I agree on everything else

Re:Anyone entering dodge search terms

[Maximalist]

Well, being able to get all of the google searches somebody performed in a certain time frame would be useful to lots more than just divorce lawyers... There are plenty of legal matters where "intent" is a factor... for example, in some states the tort of civil conspiracy requires proof of "malice". Search records, and more general net usage records could go a long way toward proving malice or other states of mind. Since lawyers are required to be zealous in their representation of their clients, subpoening this stuff is going to become much more common once it gets onto lawyers's radar.

Re:Ah, yes. Truth and Honesty: The New Flamebait.

[Original Replica]

So a guy that makes fun of congress trying to ban internet pr0n is in your opinon "right-wing", interesting. Come on, I think /. is if anything slightly liberal, and I live in NYC.

Re:Become Private

[Slashdotgirl]

The following two articles should make it quite explicit as to what companies and governments are doing.

The EFF has an article. Where it's suing AT&T for breach of privacy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T Tuesday, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications. http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_01.php#00436 9 [eff.org]

In addition the ACLU has an update article on the U.S. National Security Agency, spying on American people and the rest of the world. "Eavesdropping 101: What Can The NSA Do? http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nsaspying/23989res200 60131.html [aclu.org].

What is it going to take to stop this type of activity?

Google Analytics Fixes

[Fnord666]

A brute force approach for google analytics is to add the following to your hosts file:
# [Google Inc]
127.0.0.1 www.google-analytics.com

If you are using firefox, then there is an extension [customizegoogle.com] to customize your interaction with google. One of the preference sections is privacy settings. Options include anonymizing your user ID and never sending cookie data to google analytics.
labnol.blogspot.com has an article [blogspot.com] that discusses both of these options and also discusses how to add the hosts entry on a windows box.