04 November 2008

Google raises eyebrows with fresh privacy concerns

Every day, Google sites are accessed by millions of users all searching for information, checking their e-mails and scanning news headlines. It's impossible to deny that Google has developed an impressive list of high quality products that are not only incredibly useful, slightly addictive but, best of all, free. Originally a search engine, the Google homepage has become more like a computer desktop, with chat, word processing and calendar features all taunting Microsoft, as Google tries to overtake the original software giant. And as the Google empire grows, regulators, watchdogs and everyday civilians all grow a little bit more wary of Google's advances.

In the last few months, concerns have been focussed on the pending Google-Yahoo deal. As regulators mull over monopoly concerns and the financial implications on the industry, a new wave of uneasiness is mounting over future privacy issues. How much information would Google have access to if it were to sign a deal with Yahoo? As these thoughts are chewed over by industry watchdogs and privacy advocates, questions are revived about how much information Google already does know.

For one watchdog group in California, the launch of Google's new Chrome browser was the final straw. Writing to the Google directors, the group stressed that Google does not provide users with "appropriate transparency and control", raising particular concerns over the Google navigation bar whose search feature relays data to Google datacenters even before the user clicks enter.

Such concerns are not limited to Google Chrome but also to its analytics software, which has been integrated into millions of websites across the net. German newsite Spiegel.de recently decided to remove Google Analytics from its website in an attempt to protect its readers. The German newsgroup warned readers that even people who don't use Google or products like Gmail or Maps still have data gathered on them as so many companies use the analytics software on their websites.

Far from the Spiegel headquarters in the lakeside town of Molfsee, townsfolk have grown anxious over a fleet of Opel Astras all sporting the Google logo. Naturally, Molfsee isn't the only town that has grown tired of Google zooming in on them. Across both sides of the Atlantic, more and more complaints are being launched over Google street cars, with huge concerns raised over privacy rights as it attempts to expand its StreetView service.

Of course, Google has been gathering data on users for years and it's likely that many of the people complaining about Google street cars have been using Google search for years. But the fact that these street cars are so visible has driven home the fact of Google's sheer size and power. All of this raises one major question: knowing that Google knows so much, do people now stop using Google's useful, addictive and free products? Or do they just continue on as normal and trust Google to adhere to its unofficial motto and not be evil? Until its competitors come up with search and online services that are as developed and advanced, the latter seems most likely.

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