Comment by Dan B (not verified), posted January 26, 2007 - 12:46am
You might be surprised how much Google knows about you. IP addresses are one thing. But consider how many people are registered users of Yahoo and Google - where they have volunteered personal information to these companies. Then couple that with the cookies your browser downloads to help them know when you're the one doing the searching. Ever wonder how Google is able to "personalize" your search results? There's much more information available to the search engines than your IP address. In fact, the IP address is of least value. They can't go to your DSL provider to ask which subscriber uses a particular address. But when you volunteer that information (by registering, filling out forms, etc.) then you've handed it to them.
The issue of the legality of data retention for law enforcement purposes is one being debated worldwide. In fact, the US seem to be behind in terms of passing formal legislation on the topic. In Europe the EU Data Retention Directive passed on 2006 requiring 6-24 months of data retention for phone calls and eventually ISP data. Cases are now being brought forth to challenge the Directive, although it appears the prevailing attitude is to accept the law if it indeed helps track terrorists and child pornographers.
You might be surprised how much Google knows about you. IP addresses are one thing. But consider how many people are registered users of Yahoo and Google - where they have volunteered personal information to these companies. Then couple that with the cookies your browser downloads to help them know when you're the one doing the searching. Ever wonder how Google is able to "personalize" your search results? There's much more information available to the search engines than your IP address. In fact, the IP address is of least value. They can't go to your DSL provider to ask which subscriber uses a particular address. But when you volunteer that information (by registering, filling out forms, etc.) then you've handed it to them.
The issue of the legality of data retention for law enforcement purposes is one being debated worldwide. In fact, the US seem to be behind in terms of passing formal legislation on the topic. In Europe the EU Data Retention Directive passed on 2006 requiring 6-24 months of data retention for phone calls and eventually ISP data. Cases are now being brought forth to challenge the Directive, although it appears the prevailing attitude is to accept the law if it indeed helps track terrorists and child pornographers.