Google’s “Web History” service logs everything

Google is taking over the world. Not content with archiving your entire email collection via GMail, Google has begun publicly tracking your web surfing history. Working in conjunction with their Google Toolbar, Web History keeps track of every page you visit, associating it with your account, and allowing you to access your surfing history at your convenience. It’s essentially an expanded version of your browsers History tab, but includes neat features like what sites you surf most at what times and searching across every website you’ve ever visited. The shady part, depending on your feelings, is that the browsing history is obviously archived and owned by Google. This freaks me out for a number of reasons, and although Google claims not to access this information in any way, it’s not hard to imagine a situation in which your browsing history falls under the scope of a subpoena or other legal proceeding. I personally don’t like the concept of anyone having this type of comprehensive access to searches, sites, and habits. Convenient? You bet. Too frightening to justify? Possibly.

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