[e-privacy] Da EFF - Six Tips to Protect Your Online Search Privacy

[Andrea Glorioso]

FYI

http://www.eff.org/Privacy/search/searchtips.pdf

Google, MSN Search, Yahoo!, AOL, and most other search engines collect
and store  records  of your   search  queries.  If these  records  are
revealed  to  others, they can be   embarrassing  or even  cause great
harm.   Would you want strangers  to  see searches that reference your
online reading habits,  medical history, finances, sexual orientation,
or political affiliation?

Recent events  highlight the danger  that search logs pose.  In August
2006, AOL  published 650,000 users'  search histories on its website.1
Though each user's logs were only associated  with a random ID number,
several users'  identities   were readily discovered   based  on their
search queries. For instance, the New York Times connected the logs of
user   No. 4417749  with  62  year-old  Thelma  Arnold. These  records
exposed, as she put it, her "whole personal life."2

Disclosures  like  AOL's   are   not    the  only  threats  to    your
privacy. Unfortunately, it  may be all too easy  for the government or
individual litigants to subpoena  your search provider and  get access
to your search history. For example, in January 2006, Yahoo!, AOL, and
Microsoft reportedly   cooperated with    a broad  Justice  Department
request for millions of  search records. Although  Google successfully
challenged  this request,3 the lack of  clarity in  current law leaves
your online privacy at risk.

Search companies should limit  data  retention and make their  logging
practices more   transparent to the  public,5  while Congress ought to
clarify and strengthen privacy  protections  for search data.  But you
should  also take matters  into your own hands   and adopt habits that
will help protect your privacy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation  has developed the following search
privacy  tips. They  range  from  straightforward  steps  that offer a
little protection      to more   complicated    measures that    offer
near-complete safety.  While we strongly urge users  to follow all six
tips,  a lesser level of protection   might be sufficient depending on
your particular situation   and willingness to  accept  risks to  your
privacy.

--
Andrea Glorioso		andrea at digitalpolicy.it
                        +39 348 921 4379
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