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Google Uses YouTube To Explain Privacy
David Utter
Staff Writer
2007-08-09
 Security News RSS Feed
A video produced by the search advertising company explained some of Google's most basic privacy practices.
People who have perused Google privacy documents like their privacy policy or their list of frequently asked privacy questions probably have a lot of their questions answered by now.
Since privacy has been such a hot-button issue, Google has made another privacy outreach to its userbase. They produced a five-minute video title "Google Search Privacy: Plain and Simple," hosted by one of the company's senior support engineers.
Google collects the search queries people submit, analyzes them, and uses what they find to improve their search results. They also grab the IP address being used by the person making the query. If anyone's curious, the IP address used as an example resolves to a location in Wichita, Kansas.
Google's cookie and its preferences receives a mention, along with the sample log entry for the search performed as a demonstration of what Google collects. Some of the collected information will be anonymized after 18 months. The anonymization will remove the last number in the IP address, as well as the cookie details.
Greater scrutiny of Google's privacy practices has come as a result of their proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. Should the deal be approved, Google will have control of personal information about millions of people.
That's the side of the privacy issue that isn't covered in Google's video. It's in their best interest to educate the public, but the basics aren't where the real danger rests in one firm having so many records under its control.
About the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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