The InformationWeek -- Blogs
Google

Topics:   Google

  • Email this page E-mail this page
  • Print this page Print this page
  • Bookmark and Share
  • icon

Google's Missing Link


Posted by Thomas Claburn, Jun 4, 2008 05:20 PM

What do Microsoft and Yahoo have on their home pages that Google doesn't? They have links to their respective privacy policies.


To find a link to Google's privacy policy, you have to follow the "About Google" link from Google.com.

The absence of a privacy policy link on Google.com may seem inconsequential, particularly given that few people actually read privacy policies. But a number of privacy groups find the missing link to be "alarming."

Fourteen privacy groups, including Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the World Privacy Forum, Consumer Action, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Consumer Federation of California, and ACLU of Northern California, have written an open letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt urging the company to add a link on Google.com to Google's privacy policy.

"California law requires the operator of a commercial Web site to 'conspicuously post its privacy policy on its Web site,'" the letter says. "The straightforward reading of that law is that Google must place the word 'privacy' on the Google.com Web page linked to its privacy policy. Moreover, just about every major company that operates a Web site places a link to its privacy policy on its homepage."

Aesthetic treason though it may be to clutter the nearly pristine Google.com with an additional seven letters, Google really ought to comply, even if doing so results in a slight statistical diminution of "user happiness" -- Google's measure of how pages perform. (Believe it or not, Google pays a lot of attention to tiny details that affect page load times and user response. Tenths of seconds matter to Google.)

Clearly, Google is not keen to set a precedent that anyone with a grievance is entitled to redress on its home page. But the company has to make sure its public statements about privacy remain consistent with its actions. And it just looks bad for Google to insist that it reads the law differently than everyone else. It makes Google look like it's trying to pull one over on its users.

Google's stance is particularly perplexing given that in 2005 and 2006 the company publicly resisted the U.S. Department of Justice's demand for user search data to protect user privacy. Google associate general counsel Nicole Wong said at the time in a blog post that Google worried that "if the government was permitted to require Google to hand over search queries, that could have undermined confidence that our users have in our ability to keep their information private."

What could boost user confidence in Google's ability to keep user information private more than a prominent privacy policy? (Aside from deciding not to store any user data for any purpose.)

At Google's recent developer conference, VP of search products Marissa Mayer said that the "©2008 Google" notice on the Google home page exists as punctuation, to alert users that the page has loaded completely. Why not replace it with a "Privacy" link, since the copyright notice isn't legally necessary?

« Using Baby Carrots To Motivate Staff In Big Ways | Main | Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Talks About Its Business Model »



Sign Up Now
For InformationWeek News Alerts




This is a public forum. United Business Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. United Business Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in this comment area do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this comment area becomes the property of United Business Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in United Business Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: This comment area is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.




 
Sign Up For The Grok on Google Newsletter
Every Thursday, Tom Claburn and his fellow analysts offer all the news, insight, analysis, and strategic thinking you need to understand the company and complex phenomenon known as Google.

Sign up for our free, weekly newsletter today!

Newsletter Archives


  :: THE LATEST GOOGLE NEWS ::



 

  1. Sequential Programming: Like Eating Peas with a Straw.
  2. Biomolecular device using self-assembled DNA nanostructures?
  3. Coreinfo v2.0: A Simple Utility to Understand the Manycore Complexity in Windows


Join The InformationWeek Group On LinkedIn


                           


  1. More Reasons Why Linux Misses The Desktop
  2. Too Much Netbook For Too Litl?
  3. Verizon: $350 ETF Is A Go
  4. Motorola Explains Why Droid Doesn't Have Multi-Touch


  1. Florida Hospital Dials Up iPhones For Nurses
  2. Full Nelson: A Web Presence Needs Sizzle, My Nizzle
  3. Is Antivirus Software Dead?
  4. Practical Analysis: The Fastest-Growing Security Threat
  5. InformationWeek Analytics Research: Federated Search
  6. Securing The Cyber Supply Chain

 

  Ars Technica
Boing Boing
Channel 9 Forums
CRN Blogs
Dr.Dobb's Portal: Blogs
Engadget
Gizmodo
GrokLaw
  Lifehacker
Schneier on Security
Slashdot
TechCrunch
Techdirt
Techmeme
Valleywag

  DECEMBER 2008
NOVEMBER 2008
OCTOBER 2008
SEPTEMBER 2008
AUGUST 2008
JULY 2008
JUNE 2008
MAY 2008
  APRIL 2008
MARCH 2008
FEBRUARY 2008
JANUARY 2008
DECEMBER 2007
NOVEMBER 2007
OCTOBER 2007
SEPTEMBER 2007