posted on Aug, 12 2004 @ 07:44 AM
With the advanced features enabled, Google's free toolbar for Explorer phones home with every page you surf,
and yes, it reads your cookie too.
Their
privacy policy confesses this, but that's only because Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit when their
toolbar did the same thing, and their privacy policy failed to explain this.
Worse yet, Google's toolbar updates to new versions quietly, and without asking. This means that if you have the toolbar installed, Google
essentially has complete access to your hard disk every time you connect to Google
(which is many times a day).
Most software vendors, and even Microsoft, ask if you'd like an updated version. But not Google. Any software that updates automatically presents a
massive
security risk. (POTENTIALLY)
Risks of Auto Update Software
Scan computer FREE, remove Spyware
With 200 million searches per day, most from outside the U.S.,
Google amounts to a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Those newly-commissioned data-mining bureaucrats in Washington can only dream about the sort
of slick efficiency that Google has already achieved.