Columnist David Holtzman tells the major search engines that it's time to delete all that user data they collect from us. He says incidents like the AOL search data leak and the fact that the
government can subpoena companies like Google to divulge sensitive user information amount to a massive privacy issue. At no point in the history of data collection has any company been able to retain
as much sensitive private information as the search engines. Why do they keep the data? The answer is mostly advertising, but search company bigwigs like to sidestep the question by saying it's safe
with them. Sure, maybe the information is safe from the average user--but what about a human judgment error, like the AOL leak? What about when the government comes calling for your data and finds
incriminating stuff in your search history? Is that right? Whatever the answers, the search companies feel they're doing the "right thing" by trusting their own security and keeping their options open
about how long to keep user data. As Holtzman says, most don't delete any data, because it's actually cheaper to take the path of least resistance. If the general public knew that their entire search
history could be called up in a matter of seconds (they don't), would Web companies be faced with a massive privacy backlash? After all, the government has yet to come calling, but it could. Says
Holtzman: "As long as search companies save this data, consumers have a privacy sword of Damocles hanging over their head ... If the companies persist in retaining this information, it will get out
sooner or later."
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