Google says it won't pull an AOL

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

• Discount UK Shopping

Related Articles

Google CEO quits Apple board

: Google users should have faith that their Web searches won't end up being public information like they have at AOL, says Google CEO Eric Schmidt. "We have systems in place that won't allow it to happen," Schmidt told reporters after a keynote discussion at the Search Engine Strategies conference. "Our No. 1 priority is the trust our users have, and that would be a violation of trust, so the answer is that would not happen."

However, during the keynote discussion, Schmidt had hedged a bit, saying, "We are reasonably satisfied... that this kind of thing could not happen at Google," before adding, "Never say never."

AOL apologised for releasing search log data on subscribers that had been intended for use with a newly launched research site.

While the data was anonymous, it revealed disturbingly sensitive and personal information about users that privacy advocates said could be traced back to specific individuals.

"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to release the data," Schmidt said in the conference session. "There are many things inside our company that we don't share...starting with user queries...I always thought it was fertile ground for the government to snoop."

He noted that Google fought a request from the Department of Justice for similar data, the scope of which a judge limited, giving the search giant a partial victory. "That's an example of how strongly we take this issue," Schmidt said.

The chief executive complained about Web sites that publish sensitive data, such as anti-abortion sites that reveal addresses for clinics and doctors. "Google is simply an aggregator of information, and the people who publish that information better have a good reason for publishing it," he said.

"The good news about these sites is that they're not in the first page (of search results and that) the number of crazy people is small," he said. "We worry a lot about this because we want Google to be used as a positive force in the world. We're convinced that the overwhelming value of having all that information available to you...really does justify what we do."