[Infowarrior] - Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose "Disable"

[Richard Forno]

Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose "Disable"
Ben Edelman
January 26, 2010

Run the Google Toolbar, and it’s strikingly easy to activate “Enhanced  
Features” -- transmitting to Google the full URL of every page-view,  
including searches at competing search engines. Some critics find this  
a significant privacy intrusion (1, 2, 3). But in my testing, even  
Google’s bundled toolbar installations provides some modicum of notice  
before installing. And users who want to disable such transmissions  
can always turn them off – or so I thought until I recently retested.
In this article, I provide evidence calling into question the ability  
of users to disable Google Toolbar transmissions. I begin by reviewing  
the contents of Google's "Enhanced Features" transmissions. I then  
offer screenshot and video proof showing that even when users  
specifically instruct that the Google Toolbar be “disable[d]”, and  
even when the Google Toolbar seems to be disabled (e.g., because it  
disappears from view), Google Toolbar continues tracking users’  
browsing. I then revisit how Google Toolbar's Enhanced Features get  
turned on in the first place – noting the striking ease of activating  
Enhanced Features, and the remarkable absence of a button or option to  
disable Enhanced Features once they are turned on. I criticize the  
fact that Google’s disclosures have worsened over time, and I conclude  
by identifying changes necessary to fulfill users’ expectations and  
protect users’ privacy.

< - >

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