Google battles over privacy
This just in! The top Internet search provider Google is now in a heated battle with Federal lawmakers over issues of personal privacy and security. Recently a subpoena was sent to several of the Internet's search engine providers, asking for specific information on user search habits and web site listings. The request comes from the government’s latest effort to revive a law involving online pornography.
Though providers Yahoo, AOL, and MSN have all adhered to the legal requests, Goggle refuses to give in. They stated the company will fight vigorously to protect user identifiable information, as it would reveal company trade secrets and also violate individual privacy. Following the news, Goggle's stock fell $36 a share.
According to Nielson ratings, Google is currently the top U.S. search site and attracts 380 million unique users per month, with nearly half of all U.S. searches, 2.4 billion a month, going through Google. They also get 50% of traffic is from outside the USA, spanning from 112 international domains.
Can people really tell who Internet users are and where they go? Absolutely yes! There are many techniques employed for search companies to "track" and "identify" surfers. It's actually pretty simple. When ever a person types a search word in a search engine, the site records their unique address that can be traceable to who they are, where they live, as well as many other things, including what they read about, download, or search for regularly. It can be "linked" to their credit cards, social security number, date of birth, pretty much anything about them that is gathered, compiled, and stored in the data centers. The key word is “linking”, as all of this information is not sent or shared at every site, but the data centers have the capability to track your assigned “number” and link it to other specifics about you.
But why would any one care that the search engine companies collect information about users and store it in their mass data centers for years and years? What is this data going to be used for? Are there any laws that say what they can and can't do with this information? Does the scope extend far beyond the reported "marketing purposes"? What is the real value of this data and who gets access to it?
For centuries there has been the old cliché "Big Brother is watching", indicating the government is smart and sophisticated enough to track our every move. But with the growth of the Internet, it appears obvious that there is much information even they do not know about. But do they have a right to that information, or is it best kept by a private company? Who has the real jurisdiction here?
So what can the average computer user do to prevent others from collecting and using their information? Some say to delete the Internet "cookies' regularly (since cookies are the very files that store your “user identifiable information”). But that technique only goes so far. If you ever log on to Google's gmail, it automatically "sets" your personal cookie (yes all over again). Like any public email service such as Yahoo you are not able to login without using a cookie. So, there really is not any point in removing your cookies, since they will just re-appear.
What about the notorious spyware or adware applications that have a reputation of not only screwing up a PC, but also jeopardizing a users privacy by sharing information to third parties? There are many popular programs available to prevent or remove spyware type from your PC. But even if you do spyware prevention and removal, what is the point when all of your personal information is already collected from companies that you are supposed to trust? Companies like Yahoo, AOL, and Google for example. Those organizations or web content providers may as well be labeled as spyware companies as well. And why not? Funny, they may know more about you than the government does.
Sadly, there is not much one can do (realistically) to prevent from being cataloged in a data warehouse somewhere. If you have ever filled out an online form or bought anything from an online store you are in a database somewhere. The only real preventative measure is to leave your computer off (as silly as that may sound). But even those without a computer are cataloged by many companies that have and use their private information too. There simply is no getting around it.
So rather than do something stupid like bang your head against the wall, or blowing up your PC, here are a few small things you can do, online anyway.
For online searches, there is one site called http://www.scroogle.org/ that allows searches on Google and Yahoo without providing your user information. They use technology that will hide or block your identifiable Internet address, among other things. So if you care to remain anonymous about what you are searching for, give that a try.
Also, there is another search engine called clusty.com, which is similiar to Google but doesn't track you.
Using an alternate search service may prevent your searches from being logged, however, once you get the site you want, from there your surfing habits can be tracked by 3rd party advertisers recording your activity. So really, there is no getting around it. You are being tracked!
One another thing you can do is block 3rd party advertisers on your computer, since they are the one's that collect and compile data from you the most. (doubleclick.net is pretty much the devil) . Definitely set your browser privacy to block all third party cookies (or may turn cookies off all together if you can get away with it). You can use an adblocking application like the Zone Alarm firewall. Or try surfing with Maxthon (www.maxthon.com), which is built on Internet Explorer, and will allow you to turn on and off the advertising in web sites, which can offer some additional protection.
One more tool, the Cloak (www.thecloak.com) will allow user anonymous web surfing all together. It uses what is called a proxy server to block or hide your computer's Internet address. Limited surfing is free, but if you want maximum usage and protect you'll have to fork out some cash.
In conclusion, we are all just numbers in the new world of Internet information sharing. We are often told the information obtained is used for marketing purposes, but the question remains what will happen if and when the information winds up in the hands of the wrong parties? There is no doubt your personal information will be stored and used in some fashion or another, like it or not. And for the most part you really have no choice but to play along. So site back and enjoy the ride. It's about to get even more controversial as technology continues to evolve and the government and corporate world continue their head-to-head battle for money, power, and control.
related stories:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-01-19-google-search-records_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-22-google-image_x.htm
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google..
Though providers Yahoo, AOL, and MSN have all adhered to the legal requests, Goggle refuses to give in. They stated the company will fight vigorously to protect user identifiable information, as it would reveal company trade secrets and also violate individual privacy. Following the news, Goggle's stock fell $36 a share.
According to Nielson ratings, Google is currently the top U.S. search site and attracts 380 million unique users per month, with nearly half of all U.S. searches, 2.4 billion a month, going through Google. They also get 50% of traffic is from outside the USA, spanning from 112 international domains.
Can people really tell who Internet users are and where they go? Absolutely yes! There are many techniques employed for search companies to "track" and "identify" surfers. It's actually pretty simple. When ever a person types a search word in a search engine, the site records their unique address that can be traceable to who they are, where they live, as well as many other things, including what they read about, download, or search for regularly. It can be "linked" to their credit cards, social security number, date of birth, pretty much anything about them that is gathered, compiled, and stored in the data centers. The key word is “linking”, as all of this information is not sent or shared at every site, but the data centers have the capability to track your assigned “number” and link it to other specifics about you.
But why would any one care that the search engine companies collect information about users and store it in their mass data centers for years and years? What is this data going to be used for? Are there any laws that say what they can and can't do with this information? Does the scope extend far beyond the reported "marketing purposes"? What is the real value of this data and who gets access to it?
For centuries there has been the old cliché "Big Brother is watching", indicating the government is smart and sophisticated enough to track our every move. But with the growth of the Internet, it appears obvious that there is much information even they do not know about. But do they have a right to that information, or is it best kept by a private company? Who has the real jurisdiction here?
So what can the average computer user do to prevent others from collecting and using their information? Some say to delete the Internet "cookies' regularly (since cookies are the very files that store your “user identifiable information”). But that technique only goes so far. If you ever log on to Google's gmail, it automatically "sets" your personal cookie (yes all over again). Like any public email service such as Yahoo you are not able to login without using a cookie. So, there really is not any point in removing your cookies, since they will just re-appear.
What about the notorious spyware or adware applications that have a reputation of not only screwing up a PC, but also jeopardizing a users privacy by sharing information to third parties? There are many popular programs available to prevent or remove spyware type from your PC. But even if you do spyware prevention and removal, what is the point when all of your personal information is already collected from companies that you are supposed to trust? Companies like Yahoo, AOL, and Google for example. Those organizations or web content providers may as well be labeled as spyware companies as well. And why not? Funny, they may know more about you than the government does.
Sadly, there is not much one can do (realistically) to prevent from being cataloged in a data warehouse somewhere. If you have ever filled out an online form or bought anything from an online store you are in a database somewhere. The only real preventative measure is to leave your computer off (as silly as that may sound). But even those without a computer are cataloged by many companies that have and use their private information too. There simply is no getting around it.
So rather than do something stupid like bang your head against the wall, or blowing up your PC, here are a few small things you can do, online anyway.
For online searches, there is one site called http://www.scroogle.org/ that allows searches on Google and Yahoo without providing your user information. They use technology that will hide or block your identifiable Internet address, among other things. So if you care to remain anonymous about what you are searching for, give that a try.
Also, there is another search engine called clusty.com, which is similiar to Google but doesn't track you.
Using an alternate search service may prevent your searches from being logged, however, once you get the site you want, from there your surfing habits can be tracked by 3rd party advertisers recording your activity. So really, there is no getting around it. You are being tracked!
One another thing you can do is block 3rd party advertisers on your computer, since they are the one's that collect and compile data from you the most. (doubleclick.net is pretty much the devil) . Definitely set your browser privacy to block all third party cookies (or may turn cookies off all together if you can get away with it). You can use an adblocking application like the Zone Alarm firewall. Or try surfing with Maxthon (www.maxthon.com), which is built on Internet Explorer, and will allow you to turn on and off the advertising in web sites, which can offer some additional protection.
One more tool, the Cloak (www.thecloak.com) will allow user anonymous web surfing all together. It uses what is called a proxy server to block or hide your computer's Internet address. Limited surfing is free, but if you want maximum usage and protect you'll have to fork out some cash.
In conclusion, we are all just numbers in the new world of Internet information sharing. We are often told the information obtained is used for marketing purposes, but the question remains what will happen if and when the information winds up in the hands of the wrong parties? There is no doubt your personal information will be stored and used in some fashion or another, like it or not. And for the most part you really have no choice but to play along. So site back and enjoy the ride. It's about to get even more controversial as technology continues to evolve and the government and corporate world continue their head-to-head battle for money, power, and control.
related stories:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2006-01-19-google-search-records_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-22-google-image_x.htm
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google..
posted by Tech Reporter at 11:04 PM
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