# Privacy: Search Engine Privacy Standard Proposed.  Virante, a SEO
& Internet marketing company, has propsoed a new privacy standard
to prevent search engines from tracking certain search queries. The
standard is called #Privacy, and is pretty simple:
"Pound Privacy" is a campaign to create the first
standard for search engine query privacy. The implementation is fairly
straightforward: If you append the phrase "#privacy" at the end of a
query on any search engine or site search, your query should not be
tracked by IP or cookie, and should not be made public in keyword
tools. It is that simple.
This is an interesting propsal, and a way to give search engine
users much more control over the infromation search providers can
collect.
But it isn't a complete solution to the problem of search engine
privacy. In the #Privacy paradigm, the collection of user information
is still the default - users must take action to prevent certain
searches from being collected. Further, there are no real ways to
ensure that search engines actually abide by the addition of the
#Privacy instruction. In fact, Virante's proposal allows search engines
to ignore the flag "when the query indicates that a crime is being
committed." Not sure what that is supposed to mean, or who gets to
decide what searches fit that category.
#Privacy is an interesting idea - a good first step. But I think a
better solution would be one where search engines are prevented from
collecting information on their users altogether. Short of that, there
should be limits on the kind of information collection, how long it can
be kept, etc. Users should have the ability to see the information on
file, correct errors, and delete information as they see fit.
Forcing users to append their searches with a tag in order to
protect their privacy accepts the premise that search engines should be
allowed to collect personal information by default. And that is what
must change.
[found via Canadian Privacy Law Blog]
UPDATE: More light criticism of the # Privacy endeavor:
Seth Finkelstein
notes an obvious flaw in the comments: appending such a tag to your
searches merely notifies anyone watching that "This is a really
interesting search! Hot stuff here!"
And Michael at Better Software...
reminds us that any search engine results clicked would still, by
default, send the search query to the host's site through the HTTP
"referer" header. (He also sees this entire proposal as perhaps just a
means to get "a bit of nice publicity" for Virante, which is probably
why I (subconsciously?) didn't provide a link to the SEO firm in the
first place).
UPDATE 2: And Emergent Chaos rightfully calls it a "silly idea."
[michaelzimmer.org]
10:28:25 PM 
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