Google to anonymise Chrome user data after 24 hours

Clearing up confusion about whether it does – or doesn’t – keep tabs on where Chrome users surf, Google has introduced a stricter privacy policy for its new web browser.

In a post today on the company’s site, Google vice-president of operations Urs Holzle outlines new privacy protections his company has put into immediate effect around – barely a week into the browser’s public beta release

Search words and website addresses chosen by those using Chrome’s “Suggest” feature will now only be retained for 24 hours before being “anonymised” – meaning Google will voluntarily surrender its ability to tie such personal details to a specific computer. The search giant says it was already only storing 2 per cent of Suggest data.

The “Suggest” feature also works with Google Toolbar and, depending on settings, Google’s regular search engine site, proffering a real-time, scroll-down list of website and search word options as you type.

Choose one of the recommended words, or sites, and Google will start to learn your tastes and preferences – giving Google the ability to offer you more personal recommendations in future, or less privacy in future, depending on your point of view.

However, Google’s Omnibar, which combines the Search and Address bars of IE and Firefox into a single line, means all Chrome users face Suggest option every time they type into the browser – shining a harsh spotlight on Suggest’s power.

In a related move, Google says it will also cut the time it stores personal search data from 18 months to nine months. The search records, maintained on all users who don’t actively take privacy steps, are already anonymised to a degree by dint of being tied to an IP address rather than an individual’s identity.

The moves follow concerns that Google – which recently purchased internet ad server and tracker DoubleClick – gains near total control of a surfer’s privacy once they adopt its Chrome browser. A US government antitrust suit is already strongly rumoured.

In earlier comments to NBR, Google Australia public affairs rep Sean Carlson said Chrome does not collect any more user data than that captured by rival web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

He adds that for those who want to be proactive about privacy, Chrome offers a stealth surfing option (mirrored by the new InPrivate feature of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8, currently in beta): “There are several features of Google Chrome that help people control the information that's stored on their computer, such as a feature called Incognito, which will prevent information that is normally stored when you visit pages (such as cookies, records of downloads and web history) from being stored permanently on your computer,” says Carlson.

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