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The Australian (15 June 2010) published an article titled “Google search engine ‘not safe’: expert” have exposed Google that they have always been recording the entire search that their users are browsing. Without denying, Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt justifies that users should avoid searching for things that they do not want people to know about because they will still hand over to the Patriot Act if it is requested. Besides that, what Google have about their users could be turn into a marketing data. Comparatively to other search engine like Startpage in Autralia, it allows users to anonymously search the internet across global and local engines including yahoo, Bing, Anzwers and etc (Dearne 2010).
My favorite phrase ‘Don’t know anything, just google it!’ There is no harm as I am not giving out any of my information. That is what I thought, I was wrong! Browsing the internet may seem like a very small deal but browsing the internet actually relays your personal information to websites. You are most likely providing your IP address and information about which website have you visited to the website operators (UCAN 2010).
Fine, I do agree some parts of what Google are doing might seem very much invading our privacy as I, myself am a Google user. I love privacy but I can’t help to think that if everyone gets to anonymously browse through the internet, wouldn’t it causes other problems? Example: The article (Dearne 2010) state that those records are used to trace potential domestic terrorists, what if they are real terrorists and due to the privacy protection there is no way tracing them through supposed to have records? Won’t the country be even more at state of harm? For me, I would rather have Google recording my data all they want than to let a terrorist running about freely. I mean think about it, it does make sense what Eric Schmidt had said ‘if you do not want Google to know what you are searching then do not search’ because it could be probably up to no good.
It all comes back to what are you willing to let go, your privacy (which may not be a problem to some people) or allowing a felony living beside you and risk your family being harmed?
Dearne, K 2010, Google search engine’not safe’ : expert, australian IT, viewed on 12 June 2010, from <http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/google-privacy-practices-not-safe-says-netherlands-expert/story-e6frgakx-1225879624468>.
UCAN 2010, Fact sheet 18: online privacy: using the internet safely, privacy rights clearinghouse, viewed on 12 June 2010, from <http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm#Browsing>.
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