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Privacy matters occupy internet giants Google and Yahoo
Search engine Google is taking measures to improve privacy by making it more difficult to connect search requests with the people making them, while Yahoo has been cleared in a privacy case.As the market leader in search advertising, Google has a responsibility towards both its clients and its users and the move should help to reassure the public that it respects their privacy.
By removing certain key pieces of information every 18 to 24 months, Google believes it can provide better assurances of privacy.
Although authorities will still be able to demand to review personal information before Google removes it, the time frame gives users some idea of how long it will hold on to potentially sensitive data that could reveal people's online habits.
"This is an extremely positive development," Ari Schwartz of the Center for Democracy and Technology told Forbes. "It's the type of thing we've been advocating for a number of years."
Meanwhile, rival search engine Yahoo has been cleared in a privacy case in Hong Kong. According to investigators, there was not enough evidence to show that Yahoo provided private information the authorities convict a reporter who had been accused of leaking state secrets.
A year ago Google was caught up in a legal battle with the US Justice Department relating to online pornography.
Yahoo and Microsoft complied with the government's demands but Google fought to protect its users' privacy and in the end did not have to reveal the search requests the Justice Department wanted it to hand over.
Google News posted on 15 March 2007
