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Google Privacy Issues
WebProNews
Staff Writer
2004-03-23
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Richard M. Smith, former CTO at the Privacy Foundation told GlobeTechnology.com, "I think Google is the biggest privacy invader on the planet, no doubt about it."
This complaint stems from the personal information that is available when you search a particular individual or topic. For instance, searches containing the word "confidential" have returned potentially humiliating private memos.
Information on previous employers, past relationships and even criminal records are available on Google. Some users think this information should be limited or even censored.
Google co-founder Larry Page responded with these thoughts, "do you not want Google to make information available that's available to other people? I want to know it's out there on the Web. I don't want Google to censor it"
Page also believes that Google should not make policies concerning privacy, but rather wait until a consensus is reached before it alters the way their algorithms index public information.
It seems that Google is being called out on the ability that users want in the first place. That being the ability to gather and present information in the form of an Internet search. People want to be able to find whatever information is available concerning the particular subject of interest.
To limit Google's ability to gather information is to reduce its effectiveness as a search engine. If public consensus decides that personal information should remain unseen, Google would adapt their methods of result gathering.
Page summed Google's position up with this statement, "we're not experts on all possible topics. These (topics) are hugely controversial, and I don't think it's a good idea for us to set policy."
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