[privacy] Watchdog group slams Google on privacy

["Richard M. Smith" <rms () computerbytesman com>]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070609/ap_on_hi_te/google_privacy_1;_ylt=Al91jy
LJwfHpyr6Lsw7J.TwE1vAI

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer 
44 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the
Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to
intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles personal
information about its users. 
 
In a report released Saturday, London-based Privacy International assigned
Google its lowest possible grade. The category is reserved for companies
with "comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to
privacy."

None of the 22 other surveyed companies - a group that included Yahoo Inc.
(Nasdaq:YHOO - news), Microsoft Corp. and AOL - sunk to that level,
according to Privacy International.

While a number of other Internet companies have troubling policies, none
comes as close to Google to "achieving status as an endemic threat to
privacy," Privacy International said in an explanation of its findings.

In a statement from one of its lawyers, Google said it aggressively protects
its users' privacy and stands behind its track record. In its most
conspicuous defense of user privacy, Google last year successfully fought a
U.S. Justice Department subpoena demanding to review millions of search
requests.

"We are disappointed with Privacy International's report, which is based on
numerous inaccuracies and misunderstandings about our services," said Nicole
Wong, Google's deputy general counsel.

"It's a shame that Privacy International decided to publish its report
before we had an opportunity to discuss our privacy practices with them."

Privacy International contacted Google earlier this month, but didn't
receive a response, said Simon Davies, the group's director.

The scathing report is just the latest strike aimed at Google's privacy
practices.

An independent European panel recently opened an inquiry into whether
Google's policies abide by Europe's privacy rules.

Meanwhile, three consumer groups in the United States are pressuring the
nation's regulators to make Google change some of its privacy policies as
part of its proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of online ad service
DoubleClick Inc., which also tracks Web surfers' behavior.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into antitrust concerns raised
by the DoubleClick deal, but has not indicated if privacy issues will be
part of the inquiry.

Hoping to placate its critics, Google has pledged to begin erasing the
information about users' search requests within 18 to 24 months.

The company says its stockpiles data to help its search engine better
understand its users so it can deliver more relevant results and
advertisements.

As Google becomes more knowledgeable about the people relying on its search
engine and other free services, management hopes to develop more tools that
recommend activities and other pursuits that might appeal to individual
users.

Privacy International is particularly troubled by Google's ability to match
data gathered by its search engine with information collected from other
services such as e-mail, instant messaging and maps.

"Under the microscope, it turns out that Google is doing much more with our
data than we ever imagined," Davies said.

Founded in 1990, Privacy International said it reached its preliminary
findings after spending the past six months reviewing Internet privacy
practices with the help of about 30 professors, mostly in the United States
and United Kingdom. The group plans to update the report in September. 

Seven of the Internet companies and Web sites included in Privacy
International's analysis received the second lowest grade of "substantial
and comprehensive privacy threats." This group included: Time Warner Inc.'s
AOL, Apple Inc., Facebook.com, Hi5.com, Reunion.com, Microsoft's Windows
Live Space and Yahoo. 

None of the companies or sites received Privacy International's top grade,
but five rated as "generally privacy-aware." They were: BBC, eBay Inc.,
Last.fm, LiveJournal.com, and        Wikipedia.com.

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