We all have our dark side. Some of Google's pluses can become major minuses.

ONE PLUS

     Our son Gerry is good with computers. He became more than good; he became AMAZING with his computer knowhow. Turned out that, when we phoned him with a computer problem he couldn't solve, he quickly and silently went to Google Groups (by clicking on "Groups" above the search box). He put the question in that search box, and Google quickly and silently fished up the answer from a techie discussion in its memory. Gerry told us the answer, and we were greatly impressed.

     (You have to know a bit before this works. I tried putting a technical question into Google. I got the answer, all right, but I couldn't understand it! Gerry also says that sometimes you can get "seedy" replies; that is, ways to use unauthorized software.)

A BIG MINUS

     Google's memory contains the conversations of all Internet groups and forums, not just those of computer techies. You might give some extremely confidential information to someone in an Internet group, not realizing that anyone with access to Google can fish this information out of its memory! They only need the right word or phrase that will pull up that particular piece of information.

     What you say in an Internet group or forum belongs to the world.

A PLUS

     Google can find for you the address and phone number of anyone in the United States. (This does not apply to unlisted phone numbers.) It can then give you a map of how to get to that address. This is great for businesses and great for people figuring out how to get to a social event. It is also

ANOTHER BIG MINUS

     Let's say you have a small child. You have taught your child his or her telephone number in case the child gets lost. Do you want anyone who hears that telephone number to have both your child's address and a map showing how to get there? Do you want anyone who calls you to have your address and a map of how to get there?

     As it happens, GOOGLE IS NOT ASKING YOUR PERMISSION TO INCLUDE YOU IN THIS FEATURE. YOU ARE ALREADY IN IT! To test this, go to http://www.google.com/ and put your telephone number (without any hyphens or spaces) into the search box. You should be offered the address of your house, with the option of a map.

     Fortunately Google has supplied a way to BLOCK this feature. Go to

http://google.com/help/pbremoval.html

     You should be out of that feature within 48 hours of your request.

GOOGLE SEARCH PRIVACY

     It's a can of worms. I will deal with the worms one by one.

     1. DOES GOOGLE KEEP A DETAILED RECORD OF MY SEARCHES? The answer is a firm "yes and no."

     It can keep a detailed record if it wants to, but, unless you specifically ask it to, it doesn't. Some people DO want Google to keep such a record, in order to make their searches faster and better. If you want this service, go to

http://labs.google.com/

     And "personalized search" is the first item. (Also check out the new features coming to us through the lab.)

     2. WILL GOOGLE TELL THE GOVERNMENT WHAT I'VE SEARCHED FOR?

     They're trying not to. In an effort to protect children from pornography, the U.S. government in January 2006 asked the four leading search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and AOL) to turn over one week's search queries, without identifying who made the request. Google turned them down, while the other three gave the government information, though they emphasize that they didn't give ALL the information requested.

     Privacy experts think that, while protecting children from pornography is a worthy goal, and the government didn't ask for individual information, giving this information might be the thin edge of the wedge. Next time the request could be less benign.

     3. HOW ABOUT THE RECORD OF SEARCHES IN MY DROP DOWN LIST?

     You may have noticed that when you type "google.com" into the address box of your computer, a drop-down list of recent Google searches appears. Would you rather it didn't?

     Google's reply is essentially, "We didn't furnish that drop box. It's from your Internet browser." But out of the soft part of its software heart, Google will tell you how to get rid of that information. Click below:

http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=465

     The same page tells you how to get rid of your Google Toolbar history and your browser history.

     4. I DON'T WANT MY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO BE INCLUDED IN SEARCH RESULTS.

     Google says, "We'd like to assist you, but information in our search results is actually located on third-party publicly available webpages. In order to remove your information from our search results, you'll need to contact the webmaster of this third-party site. To learn how to contact the webmaster, please visit http://www.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=9109

     "Once the webmaster of the non-Google site removes your information or blocks Google from including this page in our index, our search results will automatically reflect this change after we next crawl the page. If the webmaster makes these changes and you need us to expedite the removal of the cached copy, please let us know by clicking on the "Contact us" link below."

     And that's the current worm talley. I hope you found it helpful.

     One last item:

IS THE INFORMATION I GET FROM GOOGLE ACCURATE?

     Again, the answer is a firm "yes and no." Let me illustrate with the experience of a friend.

     When her doctor told her she had glaucoma, she went online to find information. She wound up in a forum where people exchanged glaucoma horror stories. She left convinced she was about to go blind.

     Later she found websites with information from top-notch medical specialists in glaucoma. She discovered that blindness was very unlikely so long as she cared for her eyes properly. The sites also gave details about caring for her eyes.

     That is the dark and light side of Google. And not just Google. The whole Internet is a mishmash of reliable and unreliable information. After awhile, though, you get a feel for what is reliable and what is someone's irritable, ill-informed opinion. And cruising the light side of the Internet can be a lot of fun. Informative too.

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Janette Blackwell enjoys helping people uncover the "hidden treasures" of the Internet with her Tastebud Tango newsletter. It will lead you to family-safe sites with bargains and freebies, delicious food and humor, and free expert help of many kinds. Find it all at http://delightfulfood.com/Archives/index.html

© Copyright 2005 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.