google search bar

[Kurt Pfeifle]

On Monday 06 February 2006 17:18, Dirk Mueller wrote:
> 
> Hi, 
> 
> http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6034666-2.html?tag=st.num
> 
> is an interesting read, given that we default to Google searches. I suggest we 
> rethink this. 
> 
> quoting: 
> 
>         Q: Does that mean Google has the technical ability to link a person's
>         searches together and divulge them when legally required?
> 
>         Yes. Google says in its FAQ that it records Internet address, date,
>         time, browser type, operating system and a cookie ID.  Author and
>         entrepreneur John Battelle received word from Google this week thatthe
>         company can perform two important types of matches. (We confirmed this
>         with Google and followed up with additional questions.) First, given a
>         number of search terms, Google can produce a list of people(identified
>         by Internet address or cookie) who searched for a given term. Second,
>         given a collection of Internet addresses, Google can produce a list of
>         the terms searched by the user of a given address.  That effectively
>         creates an electronic dossier of an individual. 

Uhm... but this isn't anything new, substantially? That's what cookies 
are for, no? And given that Google is *the* data mining company, I 
never ever thaught they'd delete these data.

Trust their "We do no evil" however much you want *now* -- there surely 
will come a day, when a new board of directors, a new econonmic climate 
in their industry, a new competitor, a new disruptive technology,... 
will change the attitude of even such a company as Google.

----

Indeed, re-thinking the current default for the search engine is a good 
idea.

Cheers,
Kurt