Data privacy worst-case-scenario: Google Web History

Johannes Beus
A few days ago, Google renamed the Search History to Web History and also massively increased the width of the recorded actions: While the Search History, which was default-on for many Google-accounts since February, only recorded the Google search-queries, now the whole surf behavior is logged through the Google-toolbar. In your Google-account you are then able to comprehend nicely where, how long and how often you surfed on that site – all of it presumably saved for eternity on the servers of a profit-oriented private-enterprise in the USA.

Google Web History is advertising that the more Google knows about your behavior and preferences, the better and more accurate will Google be able to control their results. This goes so far that Google can suggest a personalized list of addresses which you might like with the aid of your surf behavior. Are those really informations that you would want to be saved outside of your reach? Even though there is an option to save some or all entries, the “Privacy FAQ” points out that besides the “Live-System” there is another log-system which will retain those entries.

Those of you who have not yet found Google's data-collection-mania to be offensive should start to rethink your position right now at the latest. There are enough good alternatives to the Google-toolbar and the Google-search can (still?) be used without a Google-account.

[Update 04.21] It is interesting to note here that YouTube announced that they are starting to collect user informations for the video's for marketing purposes. That way advertisers are to get extensive informations about the age and sex of the surfers. Via heise.de
Johannes Beus - on Fri (04/20/2007) at 11:30 AM

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