Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Google And Privacy

Posted by michael on from the going-all-google-eyed dept.

SubtleNuance writes "A recent Cnet Article details the privacy concerns raised by Google's new browser Plug-In. Google's browser addon will "tell us what site you're visiting which it does by sending us the URL.". The site makes its intentions more clear than most by stating "you may be sending information about the sites you visit to Google" in its click through agreement during install. This type of software (broswer-search-plugin) isn't exactly in high use amongst the /. im sure, but what does this say about the leading technology companies on the Web - and the compromise associated with profit making in the dot-com era." Sounds to me like Google is making a good effort with what is inherently a privacy-invading product.

1 of 12 comments (clear)

  1. not a big deal... by nakaduct · · Score: 3
    "tell us what site you're visiting which it does by sending us the URL.".

    How else would the plug-in tell them? Send a fax?

    More seriously, I was looking at some proxy logs recently, and it's eerie how much you can tell about a person by the URLs they visit. This may seem obvious, but seeing it in action is spooky.

    You see them looking at, say, Sony Mobile ES, Rockford-Fosgate, and Audiocontrol, and conclude they're shopping for a car stereo.

    Then they visit their bank, and maybe their credit card vendor, and then go on to visit some less-prestigious manufacturers, and now you know more about the state of their finances than you did before.

    Fortunately, Google has done their best to warn you. After the click-through, you get a popup that reads (in big red type):

    PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY
    IT'S NOT THE USUAL YADA YADA
    .. then you get a chance to opt-out of their advanced features. I couldn't tell for sure, but it also appears that they only send the URL for pages whose rank you've requested, even when the advanced goop is turned on.

    This story would be better-titled "Google offers useful service based on current URL, and explains the drawbacks in plain English." That might not generate the page hits that /. is counting on.

    cheers,
    mike