Vincent Arnold

A controversial report ranking Google’s consumer online-privacy practices at the bottom of a list of popular web companies highlights a profound shift in the company’s public image as it has evolved from upstart web darling to seemingly unstoppable commercial powerhouse.

Privacy International, a U.K.-based civil liberties organization best known for its Big Brother Awards, graded the privacy and data-retention practices of 28 major online companies, including YouTube, Microsoft, eBay, MySpace and Yahoo, and found most had some privacy lapses.

But the report, released over the weekend, was particularly tough on Google, which alone earned a black mark for “comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy.”

Full Article: Wired

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 12th, 2007 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Information Security.