Google promises more privacy

Google Inc. is adopting new privacy measures to make it more difficult to connect online search requests with the people making them -- a thorny issue that provoked a showdown with the U.S. government last year.Under revisions announced late Wednesday, Google promised to wrap a cloak of anonymity around the vast amounts of information that the Mountain View-based company regularly collects about its millions of users around the world.Google believes it can provide more assurances of privacy by removing key pieces of identifying information from its system every 18 to 24 months. The timetable is designed to comply with a hodgepodge of laws around the world that dictate how long search engines are supposed to retain user information.Authorities still could demand to review personal information before Google purges it or take legal action seeking to force the company to keep the data beyond the new time limits.Nevertheless, Google's additional safeguards mark the first time it has spelled out precisely how long it will hold onto data that can reveal intimate details about a person's Web surfing habits.While Google will still retain reams of information about its users, the changes are supposed to lessen the chances that the company, a government agency or another party will be able to identify the people behind specific search requests.Privacy experts applauded Google's precautions as a major step in the right direction."This is an extremely positive development," said Ari Schwartz, deputy director of the Center for Democracy and Technology. "It's the type of thing we have been advocating for a number of years."Google is tightening its privacy standards a year after it became embroiled in a high-profile battle over the control of the user information that it had been stockpiling.While gathering evidence for a case involving online pornography, the U.S. Justice Department subpoenaed the major search engines for lists of search requests made by their users.While Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp.'s MSN and AOL all complied with parts of the legal demand, Google fought the request to protect its users' privacy. A federal judge ordered Google to turn over a small sampling of Web addresses contained in its search index, but decided the company didn't have to reveal the search requests sought by the government.In another demonstration of the privacy risks posed by search engines, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL last summer released 19 million search requests on the Internet as part of a research project. Although only sets of numbers were attached to the requests, the information was used to identify some of the people behind the AOL searches.AOL subsequently apologized for the lapse, which triggered the resignation of its chief technology officer and the firings of two other workers.Google and its rivals all say they keep information about their users so they can learn more about them as they strive to deliver the most relevant responses.By purging some of the personal information from its computers, Google warned it might not be as effective at improving some services as it has been in the past. "But we believe the additional privacy provided by the change outweighs the benefit of the data we are losing," Google said in a statement to The Associated Press.The privacy safeguard also could make more people feel more comfortable about relying on Google, an advantage that could help the company widen its already formidable lead in the lucrative search engine market.Protecting the sanctity of search requests should be a search engine's top priority, said Kurt Opsahl, staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberties group. "You are talking about a potential treasure trove of information," he said. "A person's searches reflect their dreams, hopes and fears."Under its new standards, Google will wipe out eight bits of the Internet protocol, or IP, address that identifies the origin of specific search requests. After the IP addresses are altered, the information will be linked to clusters of 256 computers instead of just a single machine.Google also will depersonalize computer "cookies" -- hidden files that enable Web sites to track the online preferences and travels of their visitors.Despite its privacy breach last year, AOL believes it is a step ahead of Google because it doesn't store its users' IP addresses and encrypts whatever personal information that it does collect, spokesman Andrew Weinstein said. AOL keeps the encrypted data for only 13 months, a change prompted by the backlash to last year's mishandling of search requests. Time Warner owns AOL and CNN.As the owner of the Internet's largest search engine, Google has been under growing pressure to adopt greater privacy controls. Regulators in Europe have been particularly vocal about their concerns.The new measures pleased Billy Hawkes, Ireland's data protection commissioner."It's a very welcome development," Hawkes said. "Personal information should be held on to no longer than it has to be."Hawkes and other privacy advocates are hoping other search engines will follow Google's lead.Yahoo, which runs the second largest search engine, was vague about how it might respond."Protecting our users' privacy and maintaining their trust is paramount to us, the Sunnyvale-based company said in a statement. "Data retention practices depend largely on the diverse nature of our data as well as the practical considerations of storage costs and processing system requirements."

Tech Bytes PC World picks usual 50 suspects

This week, PC World magazine announced its “Top 50 Most Important People on the Web.”

Actually, the list has 62 names on it, because some are lumped together. That includes the No. 1 slot, which is shared by three of the minds behind Google: CEO Eric Schmidt and co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. “Having conquered the online advertising world, Google seems to be gearing up for an acquisition spree, its headline-grabbing purchase of YouTube marking a big step toward complete domination of the Web,” PC World says.

Others in the top five are, in order: Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple; Bram Cohen, the co-founder of BitTorrent; Mike Morhaime, the president of Blizzard Entertainment (the company behind World of Warcraft, which has 8 million players worldwide); and Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia.

FHM (“For Him Monthly”), one of the leading “lad’s magazines,” is going all digital.

“Lad’s Magazines” are ones such as FHM and Maxim that focus on young male readers with scantily-clad — but not nude — female models, articles on the latest gadgets, videogame reviews, dating advice and so on. But the young-male demographic is spending an increasing amount of time on the Internet and circulation has been steadily declining.

As a result, publishing company Emap Consumer Media — which produces versions of FHM in 30 countries around the world — has decided to take the magazine off newsstands in the United States and focus on the online version, www.fhmonline.com, which draws more than 1.6 million visitors a month. The magazine will remain in print in England, where it started, and in other countries.

The March issue, on newsstands now, will be the last printed issue in the United States.

You don’t have to have a big space to have an impressive home theater system, according to a new report at ElectronicHouse.com, a Web site devoted to “The Technology Lifestyle.”

The report looks at ways to put a home theater into a room that seems either too narrow or too shallow. Among the tips are to have TV screens built into cabinets so they look flush-mounted or can pop out of cabinetry; consider in-wall or in-ceiling speakers if it is possible to wire them that way; and pick a TV screen that matches the distance you can place the sofa or seats instead of just going for the biggest screen possible.

To see the complete article, go to tinyurl.com/28zgdf.

Sony says that production of its PlayStation 3 game console will catch up with demand by the end of May.

The game system was nearly impossible to find at Christmas, when it was released. It is now generally available, though stores don’t have many copies.

According to a report from Reuters News Service, in January Sony sold 244,000 PS3s, compared with 294,000 Xbox consoles sold by Microsoft and 436,000 Wii consoles sold by Nintendo.

Sony’s goal is to have six million PS3s shipped worldwide by May.

PC World developing 'green' computer

The British firm said the computer will be made from recycled materials and energy-efficient components.

PC World also claimed that carbon offsetting would be used to make the PC fully carbon neutral.

Bryan Magrath, commercial director of PC World, said: "We're harnessing the very latest technology and the expertise of cutting edge component developers to create the first 'PC PC'.

"What isn't widely understood is the enormous progress that has been made in the creation of energy efficient computing technology over the last few years.

"It's a process that we expect to accelerate in the months and years ahead."

The environmentally friendly PC, which will cost between £550 and £650, will run the new Windows Vista operating system.

The computer will also come with an advice booklet for customers on ways in which they can use their PCs to minimise environmental impacts through the use of technology, such as avoiding unnecessary car journeys by communicating via the internet, ordering goods and services and using online banking.

It is expected to go on sale in the summer.

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