New Google Privacy Policy Isn't Good Enough

Google just revamped its privacy policy, and while overall it's a good one, it still has some serious holes that need to be plugged. First the good news. The policy still says that it will only use personal information to deliver targeted content and ads, and to help the company decide what new services people might want.

There's more good news as well. Personal information, as always, is restricted to Google employees on a "need-to-know" basis -- but now Google says that any employee who violates it can be fired, or even criminally prosecuted.

But there are some problems as well. Google, as we all know, has been buying sites and services, and partnering with others, with abandon. And it says affiliate sites are not bound by Google practices.

"The affiliated sites may have different privacy practices and we encourage you to read their privacy policies," Google warns.

But it doesn't define what an affiliate site is --- is it a Google partner, or one owned by Google? Google should ensure that any site it owns or partly owns adheres to its policies.It should even go further and require that affiliates adhere to certain privacy practices.

But the biggest worry is how long Google will keep your personal data. Storage is so cheap, it could keep your personal data forever. This would allow it to create a more comprehensive profile of you. And it also makes it more likely that the data may leak out.

Google, however, doesn't say how long it will keep the data. It should set a firm time frame and stick to it.