Search Engines and Internet Privacy
Most internet users are unaware that almost everything they do on the internet can be recorded, and that a surprisingly large amount of it actually is recorded.
When you search for something on the internet, the search engines will usually keep a record of the following categories of information:
- the words you enter into the search box;
- the time and date of your search;
- any websites you visit as a result of the search;
- your internet protocol (IP) address.
Data storage is cheap, so you can expect these records to be retained for many years.
How They Keep Track of You
Your IP address is a sequence of digits which identifies your internet session. It is assigned by your internet service provider, who will keep a record of which IP addresses are assigned to which subscriber. Search engines and other websites you visit will not be able to match an IP address to a particular subscriber, and so will not be able to identify you directly, unless, of course, you use the search engine which is included as part of most internet service providers’ packages.
Almost all search engine companies will try to attach a cookie (for more information about cookies, see our Privacy page) to the computer of everyone using their service. The cookie will serve to identify your computer to the search engine company.
Even though the search engine company won’t know your name, its cookie will tell it which IP addresses have been assigned to your computer, and those IP addresses will tell it which search terms you have used and which websites you have visited as a result of those searches.
The AOL Scandal
There was a minor scandal in 2006 when AOL made public a tiny proportion of the records of its associated search engine, which is based on Google. It revealed more than 20 million search queries made by 650,000 unnamed individuals over three months.
At the time of writing, the AOL database was still available. Try it for yourself:
- go to www.aolsearchdatabase.com;
- click on 'randomizer';
- click on a user ID to find out which other terms that user has searched for, and which websites he or she visited.
Of course, a handful of odd internet sessions won’t disclose much about you. As the recent case made clear, however, several months’ worth of data can sometimes reveal more than enough to identify an internet user.
Prevention
There are two main ways to prevent any search engine recording your searching activity:
- Disable their cookies;
- Search anonymously.
1 : Disabling Cookies
Most browsers allow the user to delete cookies once the cookies have been installed. This option is usually to be found in the ‘Tools’ or ‘View’ menus.
Software is available which can delete Google’s cookies for you. G–Zapper is free; there is also a paid–for version which allows you to zap cookies from other search engines’ websites, and indeed from any website.
Even better, use a browser which allows you to prevent cookies being installed on your computer in the first place. We have plugged Firefox elsewhere; not only does it make deleting and disabling cookies straightforward, but it allows the user to deny access to cookies from any named site.
2 : Anonymous Searching
Disabling or deleting cookies goes part of the way towards thwarting the search engines’ dastardly plans. Many users with broadband, however, keep their internet sessions going for hours, or even days, at a time. Every search they make during each session can be related to that session’s single IP address.
So it helps to disguise your IP address. Some websites, known as ‘anonymizers’, offer an encryption service that allows you to surf while keeping your IP address hidden from the websites you visit, which include, of course, search engines’ websites. They charge a monthly fee, but they usually allow a free trial period. For example, see:
Alternatively, instead of using your regular search engine, you could use the IXquick metasearch engine, which claims not to record data.
Further Advice
- Most internet service providers include a search engine as part of their package. Needless to say, you should never use their search engine if you are searching for anything that could identify you personally. Better still, don’t use their search engine at all!
- Avoid combining your name with any personal or financial information or passwords in the same search.
- Use different search engines for different search topics.
- Your web browser keeps a record of the web pages you have visited. Make a habit of clearing this history regularly. On most browsers, go to Tools then Options, then Clear Private Data.
Now please eat this page!