Google Rethinks Privacy, Scales Back Data Collection

Google curbs data collection practices reacting to privacy critics who blasted the company over Chrome's Big Brother behavior.

Google is making some significant changes to its privacy policy as the company attempts to regain user trust. The release of its Chrome browser opened up a bit of a Pandora's box for the search giant, highlighting data collection practices that didn't sit well with customers or privacy actovists.

One of the main issues was the discovery that Google could see what you type in the Chrome Omnibox address/search bar and record it, along with your IP address, before you even hit the enter key. The company had been collecting about 2 percent of that data, spokespeople said.

Now, though, Google has announced it will stop collecting IP addresses and make all the collected data completely anonymous. The information, Senior VP of Operations, Urs Holzle, explained, will be used only to "monitor and improve the service." The same changes will be applied to comparable query collection processes within Google Search, Google Toolbar, and the Google iPhone search application.

Execs also announced plans to erase any IP addresses saved on Google's servers after nine months, cutting in half its current 18 month holding period. The move didn't come without some reluctance.

"While we're glad that this will bring some additional improvement in privacy, we're also concerned about the potential loss of security, quality, and innovation that may result from having less data," Google's privacy counsels wrote in a blog post Tuesday.

This certainly isn't the first time Google's had to defend its privacy practices. Microsoft's chief strategist publicly questioned the company's progress in a recent interview, but Google's issues go much further back. Some highlights:

All right -- you know all the facts. Do you think Google goes too far with collecting user data? Feel free to voice your opinion and comment.