Google Receives Worst Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies

You Can Contribute Information for the Final Report

Privacy International, a human rights research organization, completed a six-month investigation of privacy practices for 23 Internet companies. Results of the consultation report were published this week, and the final report will be published in September. Privacy International is soliciting additional comments on the findings before it publishes the more detailed report. The data used for the consultation report provides a strong indication of which companies rank best to worst for their privacy practices.

The 23 companies that Privacy International included in the consultative study were: Amazon, AOL, Apple, BBC, Bebo, eBay, Facebook, Friendster, Google, Hi5, Last.fm, LinkedIn, LiveJournal, Microsoft, MySpace, Orkut, Reunion.com, Skype, Wikipedia, Windows Live Space, Xanga, Yahoo!, and YouTube.

Google ranked at the very bottom of the list primarily because the research showed numerous deficiencies and hostilities in Google's approach to privacy that "go well beyond those of other organizations." Google's low ranking is also attributed to its aggressive use of invasive or potentially invasive technologies and techniques. Other companies had negative elements, but no others came within the bottom rank of "Comprehensive consumer surveillance & entrenched hostility to privacy."

The report lists the following specific privacy failures for Google:

Google account holders, even those who use only a few services, must accept that Google retains large amounts of user information and has no limitations on how it can use that data. Even if the user wishes to terminate the service, the user cannot delete or withdraw the personal data.

Google maintains records of all search strings with associated IP addresses and time stamps them for at least 18-24 months. This may be unlawful in some parts of the world, and for U.S. companies, the time frame is unacceptable.

Google has access to user data for employment, address, phone number, and hobbies through Orkut. Google often maintains these records even after a user deletes the initial profile from Orkut.