With one of the most efficient and widely used search systems today, Google's computers crawl the Internet, sucking up every imaginable type of information available on Web sites everywhere.

Its free search products let users find this information quickly. Its desktop search toolbar extends Google's search capabilities to catalogued listings of hard drives for near instant searches for local data . In addition, Google reads users' private e-mail sent through its Gmail service and private e-mail stored on users' hard drives through its desktop-search software.

All this has turned Google into one of the largest global corporate entities, and it has begun to raise red flags among privacy advocates. According to Harold Krent, a professor and dean at Chicago-Kent College of Law, the big question is whether Google marries users' names to the aggregate data it accumulates.

If the information gathered about users was not disseminated to other business entities, privacy concerns might not be so critical. But Google, in its privacy policy, hints strongly that it uses the data it collects.

No Applicable Laws?

Seemingly, Google can apply the information it gathers with impunity. The U.S. has no laws regulating the collection, storage and use of this information except for recent laws that affect only financial institutions. Common law and state laws do not impose specific requirements for collecting the information, said several lawyers whose practices specialize in Internet security and privacy.

"This is a great source of income for Google. But the more we share information, the more it gets spread," Krent said. "The scary part is that information could be linked to individuals." Even if the information were not shared with third parties, Krent and other privacy experts worry that the amassed information poses an attractive target for hackers. This vast database of personal data also could be accessed by subpoena, either by law-enforcement authorities or by attorneys in divorce and other cases, Krent warned.

Analysts readily admit that Google is not the only search player who needs to be held accountable on privacy issues. Some contend, however, that Google's "king of the hill" status makes it more of a threat to consumers. (continued...)

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