Protect yourself against search engines!

AOL's publications on search logs of more than 650,000 users emphasize an important point: what you put on online sites may not be as private as you think.

Search engines place billions of dollars in infrastructure at the hands of any user who normally keeps their website. But the price you pay is for companies to keep your search queries, and that can provide a bit of information about your life.

Giving some ideas to preserve privacy while using search engines, CNET News.com has prepared a series of frequently asked questions:

Q: Why does AOL publish those search logs?

A: AOL's research purpose is to publish data with the hope that information will help scientists and other statisticians learn more about how people use the internet. AOL also apologized for this on Monday. They said that this edition was not properly considered.

Q: How do I protect myself if in the future, search engines still do so?

A: Because AOL has also received an objection and will quickly stop doing those types of searches. But of the four search giants (AOL, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo) only Google is against the judge's subpoena.

Q: Why do search companies store my information after the search is completed?

A: There are no laws that require companies to delete your search terms.

And there are some commercial reasons to keep them, at least for a very short time.

For example, retaining specific information can help identify fraudulent clicks (such as fake clicks on Web ads to pull up the price of competitors). Or in optimizing search results in different geographical areas. Compiling a user's profile can help the search results to re-link (such as the Google Personalized Search search engine). Moreover, disk storage is quite cheap so engineers tend to prefer to store data rather than delete them.
But obviously there is no compelling reason to keep those records longer, even months. Unless a customer voluntarily chooses his choice to be personalization .

Q: Are there any other search engines that do not store user usage information?

A: Yes, Ixquick.com , a starter kit sponsored by Amsterdam's Holland Ventures. The company is proud to say that the Ixquick.com tool does not store any information about users' internet addresses. On the other hand, it does not record search terms. But the company also said it could not link them to anyone, ID numbers or Internet addresses.

' We are a firm that believes in private reasons .' Ixquick.com director Robert Beens said, in a recent interview with CNET News.com . ' I can imagine many people who are happy with their privacy '.

Beens also said that ' We delete the user's address (internet protocol). We have a program running, opening log files, deleting the user's IP address and overwriting them. And the company also removed the unique ID from Ixquick.com's cookies '.

Q: Is AOL planning to do the same?

A: No one knows! But Jason Calacanis, co-founder of publisher Weblogs Inc. that AOL bought last year said it should do so.

In a blog on Monday, Calacanis wrote: ' I want us to be honest, DO NOT KEEP INFORMATION SIGNING in the search for data. Well, you've heard that that's true . we shouldn't even keep this kind of data . '

Q: How does Ixquick.com work?

A: Ixquick.com is known as a super search engine. To search queries in the US it relates to Yahoo, AltaVista, Alltheweb, Entireweb, Amazon, Netscape, Wikipedia and a few other websites. It compiles the results, decides which websites get the most votes and gives the best results.

' It is also possible to deceive a search engine by editing links, tails or website content. But it is very difficult to deceive 11 search engines, "Been said.

Q: Yes, Ixquick.com is very good. But I want to use my favorite search engine. How can I protect privacy while using it?

A: The first thing you should do is delete all cookies set by search engines. These cookies allow companies to record each visit. In Firefox, go to Preferences and select Privacy . There is the option for you to delete cookies and even prevent search engines from re-setting it. (Unfortunately, not all Web browsers offer this option).

Suppose you are using Google, add ' google.com ' to Firefox's list in the absence of cookies. Warning : this prevents you from using options like persionalization or Gmail . It explains why you might still want to keep other links like Opera, Safari or Internet Explorer.

If you are really worried, go to Anonymizer.com and sign up for anonymous path options (this is primarily for Windows users). Tor is an additional option. It is very difficult to use, but to protect your privacy it may be valuable.

Q: Except for Ixquick.com, do we have any more information about other search engines?

A: We surveyed search companies in February this year, and also asked them the right question.

In that interview: Give a number of search terms - They can provide a list of internet users (identified by network addresses and cookies) searching with a term. Second, offer a set of Internet addresses - They can provide a list of search terms for users with Internet addresses. That creates an effective electronic profile.

Q: Who can access my list of search terms?

A: In case you commit a prosecutor, you can definitely access that information. Obviously, lawyers in civil cases such as divorced attorneys, employees in charge of controversy and family division . will eventually ask Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, AOL and companies to find Another search gives users a search log.

Q: Has this happened before?

A: Most! A man in North Carolina was arrested for murder. Because the keywords in Google he searched for were ' neck ', ' bite ', ' bang ', and ' hold ' before his wife was killed. But those search terms were found in Robert Petrick's computer, not directly from Google.

Q: How are Internet addresses taken out? Do people always have the same thing?

A: That depends. Many cable and DSL providers locate network addresses only when they are used (this method is called DHCP and PPPoe ). Those IP addresses may change frequently.

Other IP addresses tend to be modified. The ability and duties of each member at the university, the company's employees modify Internet addresses more and more.

AOL search set is the only case. Because AOL users tend to log in when using. And AOL will know who you are because you provide the right information when signing up for the service.

Q: If Google knew I was connecting from a dynamic internet address 192.1.1.1 on the first day, 192.2.2.2 on the second day, 192.3.3.3 on the third day, how could it link my query together to create that profile?

A: This is where 'cookies' are used. A simple cookie is a device that allows a website to recognize people the next time they return. Google, AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, all set default cookies. (Microsoft's term is 1016, Yahoo is 2010, Google is 2038, AOL set a 3-part cookie is limited to 2011).

In the example on Google.com , a cookie was set for anyone to connect from IP address 192.1.1.1 on the first day, and then guessed that there was the same web browser when connecting from the address 192.2.2.2. and 192.3.3.3 the next two days. And of course, if someone is logged into their Google account, it will be easier.

Q: How long do companies keep my search information?

A: According to our survey, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo all say that they keep data as long as necessary. And it could mean forever. Microsoft added that they are "looking at ways" to provide users with the option to delete their search logs. Yahoo also has a similar sentence. And do not know exactly how long AOL holds them.