IT (in)Security Consultant

It’s no secret that Google retains search data and metadata regarding searches—in fact, it’s quite open about doing so. What’s unsure, though, is the long-term threat to information security and privacy. Let’s review Google’s elements.

Google Search: This search engine is gathering many types of information about online activities. Its future products will include data gathering and targeting as a primary business goal. All of Google’s properties— including Google Search, Gmail, Orkut and Google Desktop—have deeply linked cookies that will expire in 2038. Each of these cookies has a globally unique identifier (GUID) and can store search queries every time you search the Web. Google does not delete any information from these cookies. Therefore, if a list of search terms is given, Google can produce a list of people who searched for that term, which is identified either by IP address or Google cookie value. Conversely, if an IP address or Google cookie value is given, Google can also produce a list of the terms searched by the user of that IP address or cookie value.

Gmail: The primary risk in using Gmail lies in the fact that most users give their consent to make Gmail more than an email-delivery service and enable features such as searching, storage and shopping. This correlation of search and mail can lead to potential privacy risks. For example, email stored on third-party servers for more than 180 days is no longer protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which declares email a private means of communication.

Read more here