Some really good information in these post

[texas1willy2]

This comes from another board we were talking about a recent google article.
Google CEO: Secrets Are for Filthy People - Google - Gawker

I'm just going to cut and paste a few of the post that I found very informative, some of the last parts are the best.

When you do a search using the Google engine (or any engine for that matter) your search is transfered through their program, logged and then compared to the best results they can give. The key term here is "logged". Now, several years ago Google and the Govt. butted heads over this issue and threatened to subpeona Google if they did not comply. In response they said they would give up data, but only a small amount and only on people that the Govt. specifically asked for. Folks of high interest and the like. Now though it seems that the Govt. probably put more pressure back on Google and forced them to comply in full with their original demands of all information all the time. Meaning they can just check what you've searched for.

Please do not get paranoid though as the government can do little with a Google search entry as the incriminating evidence would not be the search itself but the returns the search yields. And those returns are completely out of your hands because the engine is the one that provided the results. So unless you are Googling something WAYYY incriminating and then proceed to log certain websites it all adds up to nothing. The guys you want to watch out for the the RCAA who can use your search entries against you in minor squabbles with ISP's and trying to fine you for downloading music. Otherwise, it is no big deal, unless of course you are being a total nimrod.

There is a whole lot more that I didn't put in because I don't want it to seem like I'm promoting illegal activities, it's just who stores what information and who has access to that information. Here's the actual conversation I was involved in.

Him

Never, ever, ever upload pictures onto the internet from your cellphone. That's just asking for your identity to be stolen. Unless of course you done a pass over them with a program like EXIFer, really though, any pictures you upload should be swept with that. Unless you are worried that someone will steal them like a professional/amateur photographer might

.

Me

I've uploaded from my phone to my email address, work photos did I mess up there, if so how do they get my identity?

Him

Naw. I mean more in line with posting picture on LiveJournal or Facebook or whatever. Work stuff, not so much a problem. In any case, with EXIF data you can literally access a freaking treasure trove of information. Cellphones are especially bad because they reveal more information than a standard digital camera. This is another reason why I never register anything, ever. From the information gained through the EXIF data, they can get your address, name, phone number, etc. And from there it is only a short stop to total identity theft. It is really easy for people to get credit card numbers even with that small amount of information and worse.

 

[texas1willy2]

The google stuff is interesting and bothersome at the same time, I remember reading a long time ago that they were going to build user profiles on everyone. I wish I could find that stuff because they talked about combining that with other information ..... not exactly sure what they plan on doing with it?