|
Metamorphosis is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit foundation based in Skopje, Macedonia. Its main goals are development of democracy and prosperity by promoting knowledge-based economy and information society.
|
|
Home  News Google Limits the Search Data Retention Period
|
|
|
|
Google Limits the Search Data Retention Period |
|
|
|
12.04.2007. |
After consultations with privacy groups in Europe and the US, Google has decided to reduce to 18 - 24 months, the retention time for data related to users and their searches.
Google is presently storing search information together with IP (Internet Protocol)
addresses which can be further on used to identify the person behind a
search. "When you search on Google, we collect information about your
search, such as the query itself, IP addresses and cookie details,"
said a Google blog post written by Peter Fleischer, the company's privacy lawyer in Europe, and its deputy general counsel Nicole Wong.
The company has announced that it will now limit this data retention
period by deleting the IP addresses related to searches after 18-24
months. The search information itself will be still stored for as long
as considered necessary.
"(...)unless we're legally required to retain log data for longer, we will anonymize our server logs
after a limited period of time. We will continue to keep server log
data but will make this data much more anonymous, so that it can no
longer be identified with individual users, after 18-24 months." said
Fleischer and Wong.
This measure was considered by privacy advocates as a positive one.
"It's the type of thing we have been advocating for a number of years"
was Ari Schwartz's, deputy director of the CDT, statement to BBC.
Mr. Fleischer said that the company would keep the information for up
to 24 months in order to be in agreement with the EU Data Retention
Directive that gave the member states mandate to pass laws that would
force ISPs to retain certain customer data for a period varying between
6 months and 2 years.
Privacy groups are still concerned about the fact that the data
collected by Google or other search engines or web companies could be
used to monitor people's online habits.
Richard Clayton,
a researcher at Cambridge University specialised in web traceability,
considers Google's initiative as a good movement but still insufficient
as he considers that there is no real justification for retaining the
data for 2 years.
He believes that the company takes advantage of the European directive
in establishing the time limits to hold to the data and that the real
reason is actually a financial one related to the costs involved in
anonymising the searches.
"There is no sense of whether this directive even applies to web search logs," he said.
Google considers that by taking this measure it is "striking the right
balance between two goals: continuing to improve Google's services for
you, while providing more transparency and certainty about our
retention practices," as stated Fleischer and Wong. However they have
also added that: "In the future, it's possible that data retention laws
will obligate us to retain logs for longer periods."
Yahoo,
on the other hand, stated it would keep the data for as long as the EU
directive requires but made no statement on what would happen after 24
months.
"We are reviewing the European Data Retention Directive as it comes
into force across Europe. Our services covered by the directive will
comply with the laws as they are enacted in each country that we have a
presence." was Yahoo comment.
(4338 hits/посети) |
|
