subject: Protecting Your Identity [print this page] Need information about that disease or illness, or just looking for a date? Google has probably been there for you through divorces, death, illnesses and marriage problems. It is a great way to find that new CD you are looking for, or to hear the latest dish about your favorite stars. There is so much information available to us just a few clicks away from all the information we could possibly want. But the question remains are we telling Google too much?
Sure it is free to search things on Google, or is it? With the current state of the world, one would think that people would be more discerning about the information that they are making public. And although Google offers free searches, the one thing that you are sacrificing is your privacy. When you turn to Google and tell it things that you don't want anyone else to know, this information is stored by Google.
In all fairness, Google works really hard to protect your identity and shoots to keep your information under wraps as much as possible. However, it is not always up to Google, with the Patriot Act and the Third Party Information Amendment, the government can take that information from Google and use it against you at any time. Google tries to keep your information secure to their legal extent, however in some cases the government has overridden Google and forced them to turn over this information.
So with over 20 billion Google searches a day, what do they know about you? You might be surprised to learn that Google stores every single search that is done, and although, your name may or may not be associated with these searches your IP Address is, identifying at least your household as being the source of the search. After 18 months, Google removes the identifiers from your information so that your information can no longer be linked to you.
Although Google tends to be a worthy steward of our information to date, there are concerns that a buy out or any switching hands of all the information they have stored could prove devastating, and even the government is looking at Google, concerned about how much information they have gathered about each individual.
by: Julie D Johnson
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