Originally published February 21 2006
Search engine histories becoming a prickly legal issue
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Wired News provides an interesting look into the legal debacle surrounding the use of search engine histories, which the Justice Department commonly subpoenas to defend the Child Online Protection Act.
Google, whose corporate credo famously includes the admonishment "Don't Be Evil," is fighting the request for a week's worth of search engine queries.
The government isn't asking for search engine users' identifying data -- at least not yet.
But for those worried about what companies or federal investigators might do with such records in the future, here's a primer on how search logs work, and how to avoid being writ large within them.
If you have never logged in to search engine's site, or a partner service like Google's Gmail offering, the company probably doesn't know your name.
Using its cookies, Google will remember all searches from your browser.
Yahoo sets a cookie that expires in June 2006.
If you sign in on Google's personalized homepage or Yahoo's homepage, the companies can then correlate your search history with any other information, such as your name, that you give them.
Why should anyone worry about the government requesting search logs or bother to disguise their search history?
Some people simply don't like the idea of their search history being tied to their personal lives.
Others don't know what the information could be used for, but worry that the search companies could find surprising uses for that data that may invade privacy in the future.
For example, if you use Google's Gmail and web optimizing software, the company could correlate everyone you've e-mailed, all the websites you've visited after a search and even all the words you misspell in queries.
What's the first thing people should do who worry about their search history?
Other options might be to obliterate certain cookies when a browser is closed and avoid logging in to other services, such as web mail, offered by a search engine.
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