Private lives, public spats

Interesting article on CNet arguing that competition is driving search engine companies towards ceding more privacy to their customers...

An analysis released Wednesday (PDF) by the Center for Democracy and Technology concluded it's good news for consumers that Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Ask.com and AOL pledged in recent months to amend how they handle user search data. That includes a person's queries, cookie identification number and Internet Protocol address.

"We see a stepped-up commitment to privacy from the companies, and we believe they are starting to see privacy as a market differentiator, and that, in fact, is starting to spark some competition about privacy," CDT Chief Executive Leslie Harris told reporters at a morning briefing here.

Excellent news it would seem...yet there would appear to be competition in the privacy lobbying game as well:

The Center for Digital Democracy, which has made a name for itself in assailing Google and Microsoft on privacy issues, was quick to blast the CDT's findings as failing "to address the wide-ranging privacy threat coming from the major search engines and their advertising clients." In a statement e-mailed to reporters, CDD executive director Jeff Chester charged that CDT "has long been an ally of the various data collection companies it purports to oversee on behalf of consumers."

And, following The Money...CDT, which bills itself as an Internet civil liberties advocacy group, acknowledged on Wednesday that it has received funding from all the main search companies except Ask.com.

Still, its all moving in a good direction.

Update - good summary of overall position here on this follow up article