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Title: Privacy fears hit Google search
Source:
BBC
URL Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4700002.stm
Published: Feb 11, 2006
Author: BBC
Post Date: 2006-02-11 18:19:34 by Zipporah
Keywords: Privacy, Google, search
Views: 253
Comments: 46
A leading US digital rights campaign group has warned against using Google software which lets people organise and find information on their computers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the latest version of Google Desktop posed a risk to privacy. This is because a feature in the software lets Google keep personal data on its servers for up to 30 days. Google says it plans to encrypt all data transferred from users' hard drives and restrict access. Government snooping The new version of its desktop search software comes as Google is battling efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to hand over data about what people are looking for. Some of Google's main competitors have already complied with the request for details about people's search habits. The case has focused attention on the issue of personal information held by internet companies. "Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF staff attorney Kevin Bankston. "Unless you configure Google Desktop very carefully, and few people will, Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the desktop software can index. "The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business," he said. 'Useful tool' The EFF is concerned about a feature in Google Desktop 3 that lets users search their content on multiple computers. To do this, people have to let Google transfer the files to its own servers. The feature is optional and only works with certain types of files, such as Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. The search giant has sought to reassure privacy advocates, saying it will not keep the information for more than 30 days and strictly limit who has access to the data. "We think this will be a very useful tool, but you will have to give up some of your privacy," said Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience. "For many of us, that trade off will make a lot of sense." The software package is widely seen as posing a challenge to Microsoft's dominance of the way people interact with computers. It is not known how many users there are of Google Desktop but it is thought to be a fraction of the hundreds of millions that use the search engine every day. As well as making data on a hard drive accessible on any computer, the software also lets people set up mini programs to keep track of information such as weather or news stories. Google Desktop 3 is currently only available for Windows XP or Windows 2000.
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We think this will be a very useful tool, but you will have to give up some of your privacy 
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 23.
#3. To: Zipporah (#0)
I've always liked the google search engine but I've been hearing stories such as this that makes me want to not use google anymore. I need to find another search engine that does not snoop.
If you look on the main page here, latest posts, there are links to several search engines.. another is dogpile.com
I like nekkid pictures of abramoff
Do you think he's cute and sexy?
What I think doesn't matter, we could squeeze a lot of juice from these shits if we hit them in the right place.
Below the belt perhaps?? :P
what?
antisemtic to do so and supposedly only white supremecist what? I have a long-time friend who lives in Houston, we've known each other since we were 11. About 15 years ago she converted to Judaism, she has learned Hebrew and she is very active with her synogogue and reads a lot, she is very bright. I told her how when I was looking for info on East Prussia to see what it was like there (I've given up finding out about that part of the family as there are few records since most were destroyed). I told her I found out that Ilya Ehrenberg, the Soviet propaganda minister, ordered Soviet troops to go in there to torture, rape and kill all remaining people, which at that point were mostly women, chidren and old men. She responded that Ilya Ehrenberg was an author and wrote books on the history of the automobile, and that is why he has a memorial in Israel. I told her he wrote books but he was also responsible for the brutality and death that occured in East Prussia. She then told me that only antisemites and white supremecists are interested in East Prussia, and I told her I just wanted to find out what life and culture was like there before the place was destroyed. She stuck to her guns though that it's antisemtic to look into that, as Ilya Ehrenberg was Jewish. It's kind of like how people are not suppose to question anything about the Holocaust, it's antisemitic to do so, and in many countries people get thrown in jail for looking into it and challenging any of the established dogma.
She stuck to her guns though that it's antisemtic to look into that, as Ilya Ehrenberg was Jewish. It's kind of like how people are not suppose to question anything about the Holocaust, it's antisemitic to do so, and in many countries people get thrown in jail for looking into it and challenging any of the established dogma. What nonsense is this?
#25. To: Zipporah (#23)
Which part? While I was looking on google for articles on East Prussia, one hit was from wikipedia, about the East Prussian Holocaust. I went to the link, and the article was in the process of possibly being deleted because some individuals apparently found it offensive, even though it did happen, but it's obviously not PC to look into it or acknowledge it.
Hey what happened to the layout of this thread? The text now goes all the way across the screen, outside the boundries. What causes that?
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#5. To: Diana (#3)
#8. To: Zipporah (#5)
#10. To: Dakmar (#8)
I like nekkid pictures of abramoff
#12. To: Diana (#10)
Do you think he's cute and sexy?
#13. To: Dakmar (#12)
What I think doesn't matter, we could squeeze a lot of juice from these shits if we hit them in the right place.
#14. To: Zipporah, Diana (#13)
antisemtic to do so and supposedly only white supremecist
#20. To: Dakmar, Zipporah (#14)
To: Zipporah, Diana
#23. To: Diana (#20)
She then told me that only antisemites and white supremecists are interested in East Prussia, and I told her I just wanted to find out what life and culture was like there before the place was destroyed.
Replies to Comment # 23. What nonsense is this?
#26. To: Zipporah (#23)
#34. To: Diana (#23)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 23.