15 March 2007

Google strengthens privacy controls

Google has announced that it is to erase all records in its archive of previous searches that could identify individual searches with particular users.

Records will continue to be held for between 18 and 24 months before being deleted. Legal requirements may compel it to hold information on some searches for longer, however.

The new policy will be applied to the company's database within the next year and will help to strengthen user privacy, said an entry on Google's official blog.

The company currently retains each search query, internet protocol address and cookie details. The change was formulated following consultations with "leading privacy stakeholders" in the US and EU, reported the blog.

"We'd love to see a shorter retention period and more complete anonymisation," said Electronic Frontier Foundation lawyer Kevin Bankston, who praised the announcement but said that a similar policy should be adopted across other Google products.

Last year, the company clashed with the US government and courts after a subpoena ordered Google to hand over its user records.

It eventually reached a compromise allowing it to provide a small sample of data excluding search requests but including a record of websites that each search revealed.

Issues around user data were also highlighted last summer when AOL accidentally revealed search information allowing some users to be traced as part of a research project.

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