Topic: Data anonymization

Behavioural Advertising

Lots of people are afraid unnecessarily of behavioural advertising. All it means is that if you have been to a site or bought something, a cookie is dropped on your computer and ad servers read those cookies and try to serve you an ad that is most appropriate to you. The data is anonymised and […]

Google Intros New Privacy Controls For Mobile Consumers

To date Google has not used the mobile handset UDID “device identifier” to target mobile advertising via its AdSense for mobile and AdMob networks. For several reasons that have to do with ad performance, Google has decided to use the device identifier going forward. That will enable the company to do frequency capping, behavioral targeting […]

SEO

Anonymizing Google’s Server Log Data — How’s It Going?

Back in March 2007, Google promised to begin anonymizing log data to better protect user privacy. That kicked off a wave of privacy pledges from competing search engines. In addition, by agreeing to limit itself, it inadvertently got the European Union to demand even faster data destruction. Below, a look at Google’s progress toward its […]

Google: Expects Viacom Will Take YouTube Data Without User Info

Since writing my WTF! US Court Declares You Have No Privacy On YouTube article, more information has come out suggesting that Google will be able to turn over information to Viacom about what’s watched on YouTube without having to say who exactly who was watching it. Nor, does it seem, that Viacom itself wants that […]

PPC

Ask.com Launches AskEraser Giving Searches Ability To Search Anonymously

Ask.com has launched AskEraser, giving searchers the ability to search anonymously. Ask.com told us about this tool back in July, and six months later, it’s now live for all searchers to use. When a searcher activates AskEraser, Ask will stop recording the searcher’s search queries and cookie information. This information includes IP address, User ID, […]

Google Considers “Anonymizing” StreetView In US

Google’s StreetView program has been shadowed by privacy concerns arising from the capture of license plate numbers, people’s faces, and other potentially embarrassing images. To address these issues, Google set up a system where users could request images be removed. However arguably the embarrassment or damage has already been done by that point. Now, as […]

Now Showing: Google Video On Privacy

Some webmasters may know of Google’s Maile Ohye through her work in Google Webmaster Central, but now she plays a new role explaining issues about search privacy, in a new video from Google. It’s the first of several videos on the subject that Google has announced that it will be doing. I found the first […]

Google Anonymizing Search Records To Protect Privacy

Google has announced that it will now anonymize the server log data that it collects after 18 to 24 months, as a way to better protect the privacy of its users. Until now, Google has retained server log data in its original form indefinitely, which made it possible for anyone with access to those logs […]