Google Toolbar tracks searches after it’s disabled

FYI…

Google Toolbar tracks searches after it’s disabled
- http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/go…ches-after.html
January 25, 2010 - "Ben Edelman, Harvard privacy researcher and guru has revisited the features of Google Toolbar and was appalled to discover that disabling it doesn’t really disable it. He is recommending that all users uninstall it. In a long, thorough and well-written piece on his blog* Edelman discusses how he monitored the Toolbar’s behavior with a network sniffer and documented the transmission of data back to Google… Not only does it track a user’s Google searches, but it also phones home information about searches done in other search engines…
Update 01/26: According to PCWorld**, Google said it will publish a download update today that will truly disable the monitoring when a user tries to do it."

* http://www.benedelman.org/news/012610-1.html

** http://www.pcworld.com/article/187670/goog…upposed_to.html
Jan 25, 2010 10:10 pm

FYI…

Google Toolbar caught tracking users when 'disabled'
- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/27/go…_when_disabled/
27 January 2010 - "… In a statement passed to The Reg, Google has acknowledged the bug. According to the statement, the bug affects Google Toolbar versions 6.3.911.1819 through 6.4.1311.42 for Internet Explorer. An update that fixes the bug is now available here*, and the company intends to automatically update users' toolbars sometime today. The statement also says that the bug does not occur if you open a new tab after disabling the toolbar for a particular window. In the statement, Google goes on to say that the bug disappears if you restart your browser, but this doesn't quite make sense. If you're interested in disabling Google toolbar for a particular window, you aren't going to close that window. "For that option to work as its name promises, Google Toolbar must cease transmissions immediately," Edelman says. "Fact is, the 'Disable Google Toolbar only for this window' option doesn't work at all: It does not actually disable Google Toolbar for the specified window"…"
* http://www.google.com/toolbar

- http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1…/google-toolbar
26 January 2010

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