Search-Engine Privacy Scorecard
Just in time for yesterday's column on search engines, the Center for Democracy and Technology--a D.C.-based think tank--released a report (pdf) on the privacy policies of major search engines.
Unlike a lot of the paper that streams out of K Street offices, this document is concise and readable, a mere six pages. Or you could just flip to page 2, where a table breaks down what AOL, Ask, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo do with your search records.
Turns out that Ask, Google and Microsoft keep search data for 18 months, while AOL and Yahoo keep it for 13 months. (The chart also says users of Ask's "AskEraser" will have their data erased within a few hours, but Ask hasn't actually rolled out this option yet--something the chart should state upfront.)
The report also suggests what search engines should do next, repeats earlier CDT calls for a "comprehensive federal privacy law" and ends with a one-page glossary defining such terms as "IP address" and "cookie."
One thing, however, that this report doesn't address is whether people factor any of these issues into their everyday Web use. Be honest here: Do you actually worry about this stuff in practice? Or do you always read a search site's privacy policy before typing in your first query there?
By Rob Pegoraro |
August 10, 2007; 1:37 PM ET
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Posted by: BR | August 10, 2007 2:33 PM
Page 3 of the CDT report talks about Ixquick.com, a search engine that already offers what others just promise. Just checked them out and REALLY like their privacy policy . Way the go Ixquick!
Posted by: Susan | August 10, 2007 6:08 PM
One of the best way to avoid these tracking methods is to use Tor, https://tor.eff.org. Your searches become private, with the appropriate precautions, as does your browsing.
Posted by: Thinker | August 10, 2007 9:07 PM
One nice feature of Mozilla is it's cookie manager. I set it to reject third party cookies and only allow first party session cookies when ever possible. Managing stored cookies is simple too. By selecting "Don't allow sites that set removed cookies to set future cookies" keeps managed cookies under foot. Closing the browser cleans up the remaining lice nicely thank you.
Posted by: PhilTR | August 11, 2007 6:17 AM
When I read about Google's previous data retention policy, I quit using them as my primary search engine. As a matter of privacy, I wasn't interested in having Big Brother Google provide advertisers with my "lifetime search history".
Posted by: JohnJ | August 11, 2007 10:54 AM
google proxy: http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
Posted by: sean | August 11, 2007 4:13 PM
Regarding Firefox/Mozilla's cookie manager.
My settings block 'Google.com'cookie, but it keeps returning. Suggestions anyone?
Posted by: Fred | August 14, 2007 3:37 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
It's rare that I search for something that I don't want others to know about. In that case I'll usually jump on a neighbor's open wireless network to do it.