We have maintained for some time that 2007 would the year the 'Net Public finally tumbled onto how much the GYM club knew about them, and would react. However, this is very interesting - human rights groups are also weighing in....
From a
report in The Guardian - The human rights campaign
Privacy International, which conducts an annual audit ranking countries according to how they respect their citizens' privacy, has analysed the world's leading internet companies.
'We are aware that the decision to place Google at the bottom of the ranking is likely to be controversial, but throughout our research we have found numerous deficiencies and hostilities in Google's approach to privacy,' the campaign group claims in the preliminary report. In the report, Privacy International claims that:
· Users of Google's services must accept the company can retain a large quantity of information about them, often indefinitely.
· Google has access to additional personal information, including hobbies, employment, address, and phone number, from user profiles in its social networking service, Orkut.
· Google collects all search results from its Toolbar search service and identifies all users with a unique 'cookie' - information sent between a web browser and the server - that allows it to track users' web use.
Last night Google defended its privacy policy and launched a scathing attack of the methodology used to compile the report which it said contained inaccuracies. 'We stand by our record for protecting user privacy and offering products that are transparent about what information is collected and empower users to control their personal information,' said Nicole Wong, the company's deputy general counsel.
Growing concern about corporate and government control of personal information was expressed last week at an event hosted by Amnesty International and The Observer to mark one year of the Irrepressible.info campaign against internet censorship.
Clearly Privacy International are going for the PR buzz, but this is just picking up a growing groundswell in our view. Interesting times methinks.......
Postscript...the BBC covered it
here
