Bigmouthmedia's survey shows that 38% of UK searchers are confident that Google would keep their data private. The remaining 62% were uncertain, or doubted Google would. Google scored more highly than Yahoo where only 26% of UK searchers felt their data would be kept private. MSN's Live search engine came slightly lower than Yahoo, with only 23% of searchers confident that that MSN would keep their data secure.
Google: 38%
Yahoo: 23%
MSN: 21%
Industry expert Bill Slawski commented, "There isn't a privileged relationship between searchers and search engines, such as between a doctor and patient. Google's privacy policy states that they will only use personal information to improve the services that they offer, but it's really the force of public opinion that may keep them from revealing information that they might otherwise share with others.
All of the major search engines collect data about our use of their services, and it adds up to a considerable amount of information. How much access do we have to view and control that information? Very little, really. How easy is it for us to find out what information is being collected about us; and how it is used? What assurances do we have as to the usage of that information? How much control do we have over it? Would they be willing to let us remove that data? Should they create Ombudsman offices?"
Google was the only search engine which scored more "Yes" than "No" votes when searchers were asked "Do you trust [this search engine] to keep your search behaviour private?"
Do you trust Google to keep your search behaviour private?
Yes: 38%
No: 30%
Don't know: 32%
A large percentage of users were uncertain to Google's intentions. Two in every five people interviewed did not know whether Yahoo would keep their data private.
Do you trust Yahoo to keep your search behaviour private?
Yes: 26%
No: 34%
Don't know: 39%
Less than one in five all UK week searchers believe that Microsoft's Live Search would keep their search behaviour private. The most frequent response from UK searchers when asked: "Do you trust MSN to keep your search behaviour private?" was: "No".
Do you trust MSN to keep your search behaviour private?
Yes: 23%
No: 39%
Don't know: 37%
Survey size: 1,101Survey size: 551 men / 550 women
Survey area: UK
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