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Google discloses some, but not all, about data collection

Google Inc. is 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 (www.google.com/privacy.html and www.google.com/privacypolicy.html) 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 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.

The most material change is in format. The July 1, 2004, policy is replaced by a set of three statements: a full-length policy twice as long as the one it replaces, a "highlights" version and explanations in question-and-answer format.

Reflecting the fact that Google has been acquiring and partnering with more companies, the policy now includes language on affiliated companies and sites, though it did not specify what types of affiliates fall under those clauses.

Chris Hoofnagle, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the changes do nothing to diminish his worries that Google is amassing "quite a trove of transactional and personal data" through its various services, which include e-mail, driving directions, photo-sharing, instant messaging and Web journals.

A trade group for marketers is requiring its members to adopt a spam-fighting technology that could help improve the chances of their legitimate pitches getting through.

Businesses have been increasingly frustrated that overzealous spam filters are blocking newsletters, coupons and other e-mail requested by customers. Some estimates say as many as one in four legitimate marketing messages get rejected mistakenly.

Separate authentication technologies pushed by Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. would help an Internet service provider verify that a message's sender is accurate and authorized. Spammers often use fake e-mail addresses, so those messages would fail authentication tests.

The Direct Marketing Association, in approving the requirement, did not say which system its members must use.

John Levine, co-author of Fighting Spam for Dummies, said the move might make sense for marketers worried about being lumped with spammers, but users shouldn't necessarily consider it virtuous.

"In reality, it's something that their members are doing anyway for straightforward business purposes," he said.

Turner Broadcasting is testing the allure of familiar video games with a new online service called GameTap (www.gametap.com) which gives players access to an unusual assortment of older games.

While other subscription game services like Yahoo Games on Demand offer a selection of newer PC games, the bulk of GameTap's library consists of PC versions of old arcade games like Centipede, Asteroids and Pac-Man, and games that were played on console systems like the Sega Genesis and the Atari 2600. There are also some PC games of more recent vintage, including Splinter Cell and Beyond Good and Evil, and more games are promised.

GameTap, available for $14.95 a month, allows you to browse through games and download as many as three at a time, although if your subscription lapses, you lose access to the games. You also can watch GameTap's video features, including such oddities as the cartoon talk show host Space Ghost interviewing co-creator of Myst, Rand Miller. Will video game oldies attract gamers the way reruns of Seinfeld attract couch potatoes? Stay tuned.

An eye-gouging fight between American Airlines and Southwest Airlines over air service in northern Texas has spilled over to an online encyclopedia.

Wikipedia lets users create, change and even erase articles on any topic, regardless of their expertise.

Supporters say its open, collaborative nature leads to a more complete, bias-free reference source, though when the topic is controversial, the wiki entry can resemble a battlefield.

Recently, someone using a computer with an Internet address assigned to American Airlines edited Wikipedia to describe Southwest Airlines Co. as "a notoriously litigious company constantly seeking to change laws to gain an advantage." For a time, the site also said Southwest is "known for its PR machine and litigious nature."

Wikipedia volunteers deleted the phrases within hours.

Tim Wagner, a spokesman for AMR Corp.'s American unit, said the changes were "not something the company initiated or condone." He had complaints of his own: One entry described American's dominance at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as a "chokehold."

The scrap played out on a Wikipedia entry on the Wright Amendment, a 1979 law that limits long-haul flights from Southwest's home at Dallas Love Field. American is trying to block Southwest's efforts to have Congress change the law.

Ed Stewart, a spokesman for Southwest, said his airline would accept American's explanation that it had nothing to do with the posting, but still wants to know who made the comments. He bristled at Southwest being called litigious.

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- Compiled from staff and wire reports.