Google launches privacy link to quiet critics

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-06 14:52

LOS ANGELES -- Internet search giant Google announced at the weekend its privacy link decision on its corporate blog and public policy blog to make peace with privacy advocates, The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.

Internet search giant Google announced at the weekend its privacy link decision on its corporate blog and public policy blog to make peace with privacy advocates, The Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday. [Xinhua]

The link was not cluttering its famously sparse home page, according to the announcement.

Google launched the privacy link while privacy advocates were distracted by another Google issue: a New York judge's order for the company to hand over information about YouTube videos and users to media giant Viacom as part of their copyright dispute.

The search giant had drawn criticism over its refusal to include a link to its privacy policy on Google.com. Some groups said that was a violation of California law. The company said then that it didn't think the link was necessary because its privacy policy was "readily accessible" to those looking for it. It could be found, among other places, on its About page, which was linked from Google.com.

Google Vice President Marissa Mayer said founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin had told her that she could add "Privacy" to the home page, but only if she subtracted another word to keep the word count on Google.com. So the company removed "Google" from the copyright line at the bottom of its home page and added "Privacy."

So ends the minor tussle over valuable real estate: Google's home page. Privacy advocates get their link, and Google's top executives get to keep their home page clean.