Google explains privacy policy on YouTube - Security - News - ZDNet Asia: "Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, said in a blog post on Wednesday that Google had launched the video to explain 'cookies, IP addresses, and logs' to 'non-techies'. YouTube is owned by Google.

ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK understands that Google's privacy video is part of an attempt by the search giant to allay EU privacy concerns.

However, the official Google line is that an explanation of server logs and cookies is necessary in the interests of 'transparency, and to empower you to make informed decisions about how you want to use our services'.

In the video, entitled 'Google Privacy Policy: Plain and Simple', Maile Ohye, a senior support engineer, says: 'To improve [Google] search results, as well as maintain security and prevent fraud, we remember some basic information about searches. Without this information, our search wouldn't work as well as it does or be as secure.'

The security reasons for retaining server logs are not raised in the video. However, a Google spokesperson said: 'By being able to look at data trends over time, Google is better able to identify hacking attempts against Google systems and those of our users.'

Fleischer has been unwilling to divulge any more information about Google security practices in the past, so as not to undermine those practices.

The video and Fleischer's Google blog post make no reference to EU privacy concerns over Google's server log retention period."

(Read Original Article - Via ZDNet Asia.)