Following on from the damning report that Privacy International released, and similar concerns from Article 29 (an EU based advisory body), Google has now cut the length of time that they will save data pertaining to their user’s searches. Instead of the original two years, personally identifiable information will be erased after 18 months, although the unidentifiable sections of the data will be kept for analysis.
OK, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be sleeping more soundly in my bed tonight… 
Check the original post here.
Yes, I may moan about Google (especially since their actions with my AdSense account), but they are still the search engine I use, but I have disabled the personal search history feature within my account there.
8:57 pm on June 14th, 2007 1
Even though Google has plenty of information about me, I still trust them. Yeah, they have my mail, they have my search history, and my IM logs, and some of my documents (like my resume).
I decived to quit ICQ because they had power on me. The single IM server, the ability to disrupt communication. Sounds scary. Same problem with Skype.
Google uses open protocols, unlike Skype and ICQ. They use SMTP for email, XMPP for IM, and when there is no protocol, they develop one, and make it open.
Not (only) the sources are needed to be open, but the protocols and standards.
By the way Chris, AFAIR you use Windows Messenger. Beware. It has a proprietary protocol and a proprietary client. Microsoft is wathing you.
3:20 am on June 16th, 2007 2
I do indeed use Windows Live Messenger, and Skype, and GMail chat occasionally
The fact that a protocol is proprietary does not, to me, indicate any status of being watched or not. I’m not arguing that m/soft have the power to, and may well be, monitoring stats/chats, but I don’t feel that Google are any less likely to be doing something bad, simply due to their protocols being open.
I’m not attempting to warn people off Google per se (apart from AdSense maybe), just trying to raise awareness of what is going on at the other end of the tunnel when you search…
1:43 pm on June 19th, 2007 3
One of my friends has recently posted a link to this research:
http://www.secdev.org/conf/skype_BHEU06.pdf
Looks like Skype isn’t a piece of software one should rely upon…
11:37 pm on June 20th, 2007 4
cheers for the link, I understood some of it lol.
around page 61 was, umm, fun to get my head around
lmao @ pages 91-92
However, if I start worrying about security, I’ll be dumping Windows, and I’m too lazy to pick up linux again, full time at least.
11:44 pm on February 29th, 2008 5
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