There is no such thing as a "free lunch!"

current mood: Feeling Smart...

So you love to use Google... So do I! Its a great search engine and as a bonus, you can get a host of "free" applications such as Picasa, Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, and even Blogger which is used here to publish this blog. Some of you may even find it great that Google gives you a huge mail account (2GBs) in its GMail service, but lets stop and think for a minute. Free does not mean that you don't have to "sign-up" to use any of these applications. Sure you can just install Picasa and Google Toolbar and Google Desktop with out having to sign into any Google accounts, but that is still an opportunity for Google to track your goings on the WWW. But for those applications that you have to sign into, especially GMail... that is giving Google a lot of private information to use...

I know, I know... Microsoft and Yahoo! both have a lot of the same types of information, right? Yes they do, but the reason I bring all of this up is because Microsoft and Yahoo! have a much better privacy statements... Google... not so much:

New Google privacy policy gives some details
By Anick Jesdanun, Associated Press
NEW YORK — Google is now disclosing more details on how it collects and uses data obtained from users, but it is remaining silent on several key questions that concern privacy advocates.

The company's new privacy policy, though little changed in substance from one issued 15 months ago, is easier to read and reflects Google's expansion beyond its core search engine business.

It also describes in greater detail what Google is doing to protect against abuses.

But it remains silent on how long information is kept. That's an area of growing concern as Google offers more and more services that potentially collect and store a wealth of personal data, making the company's servers a prime target for abuse by overzealous law enforcers and criminals alike.

read more here...

Don't get me wrong... I really do love all of the free applications that Google develops, but I just want a more defined privacy statement! What do you think?