Search engines loss of personal privacy - big brother surveillance by secret police, criminal snooping, spying and identity theft. Cookies and trojans on your computer.

http://www.globalchange.com Big controversy over personal privacy using code on your computer to track search requests, and enable a personal profile to be built up. This means that search results and advertising can be targeted to the individual person using a web browser. Search engine cookies from engines like Google had been set in the past to remain active for more than a decade. Under pressure from the EU, Google recently announced that the two years of user history they keep would be reduced to 18 months. Expect pressure to continue for personal opt out boxes enabling search engine users to block personal data from being stored. Expect search engines to push back perhaps by only allowing the fullest search results for those who give personal data to be stored. As it is they will claim (correctly) that personal history is vital to make the results as relevant as possible. Expect big civil rights debates and worries about invasion of personal life by security agencies. Comment by Dr Patrick Dixon, futurist, leading authority on global trends and conference speaker.

Category:

Science & Technology

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• search
• engines
• bots
• cookies
• confidentiality
• privacy
• protection
• big
• brother
• security
• google
• msn
• yahoo
• legal
• regulation
• advice
• community
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[Nkatsikanis]

If true then search engine optimisation is going to be a pig. Also if you untick the "personalise web search" will the goverments move you up in the terrisim risk?

[pjvdixon]

It will certainly make search engine optimisation more complex. If large numbers opt for search engine privacy then targeting by government security agencies would be less important. Patrick Dixon

[insectboy0]

Soon smarter bots will trawl the net linking our photos and entire life on the net. As things stand it's a free for all, employers, friends, neighbour, enemy's, potential partners, government's etc can make judgements on you.. Who knows how the political, business social culture will change.We all have different attitudes and free to secretly discriminate. As googles ceo, said we are all in for a big shock.

[mikeybrumbrum]

hegemonies:

Good point. I hadnt realised that. They could end up telling some of the peopel, one thing, and some of the people another thing, and have everyone running round in circles. Like we do already- oh no !

[johngamefreak]

what is theis boring idiot talking about