Tomorrow’s Washington Post reports that Google will maintain a list of all searches each individual user has ever made.
Google Accommodates Search History Buffs (WaPo)
Don’t take this personally, but Google wants your Web search history. A new feature offered by the Internet search leader invites people to save and view all the Web searches they conduct at Google. Launched in trial form Wednesday, Google’s “my search history” is designed as a kind of Internet memory aid, giving people new ways to find information they previously saw online and to repeat previous searches.
The search history is an optional feature that requires people to sign in, so Google can store their searching histories online and make them available later from any computer where they might sign in. People who already have an e-mail address from Google’s Gmail site or have registered at its Google Groups site can use those log-ins; anyone can also sign up for a new account
This is potentially quite useful, although this is something one can already do easily using bookmarks. One presumes, though, that this will have significant privacy concerns. Presumably, for example, this information would be available by subpoena for both criminal and civil cases.
