• BBC News, Monday, June 11, 2007 11:16 AM

The online rights group Privacy International has labeled Google as "hostile" to privacy in a new report about how Web firms handle personal data. It said Google is leading a "race to the bottom" among Web firms in terms of how they protect their users. The PI report is the result of six months of research, which scrutinized the personal information practices of 20 big Web firms.

Yahoo and AOL were also given a big thumbs down, described as being "substantial threats" to user privacy, while Google was last. Microsoft did somewhat better, only having "serious lapses" in its privacy efforts, while eBay, BBC.com, and CBS' Last.fm were described as being "generally privacy aware but in need of improvement." None of the firms received a "privacy friendly" rating.

Does the fact that none of the big Web firms passed the PI test, discredit the report? Reports in the media said very little about the methodology used and the criteria for determining threats. However, it may be worrying to note just how bad Google got canned. In the end, it was about the sheer amount of data Google collects about its users, "incomplete" privacy policies and a "poor record of responding to complaints." Even so, the report says that, "while a number of companies share some of these negative elements, none comes close to achieving status as an endemic threat to privacy." So what is the takeaway?

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