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+Privacy International has come out with a report listing Google as the worst company on the web when it comes to protecting user privacy. Privacy International (PI) gave Google the [dismay rating][1] based on criteria like failing to provide an expunge option for retained data, failing to adhere to generally accepted privacy practices and failing to provide clear information on the length of time user data is retained.
+
+Privacy is understandably a touchy subject with users and Privacy International's report is fairly damning which makes for massively bad PR for Google.
+
+However there's a few things to note about PI's report. First off one of PI's board members is employed by Microsoft. 
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+While it seems unlikely that one person could influence a [70 person board][2] to skew a report to damage a competitor, it does beg the question why there are no representatives from Google (or for that matter Yahoo or any of the other large internet firms).
+
+PI has published an [open letter][3] accusing Google of trying to conduct a smear campaign against the organization. According to the letter:
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+>Two European journalists have independently told us that Google representatives have contacted them with the claim that "Privacy International has a conflict of interest regarding Microsoft". I presume this was motivated because Microsoft scored an overall better result than Google in the rankings...
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+If that claim is in fact true and Google's plan to minimize the bad press from the report is to imply bias, it seems likely to backfire. The fact is Google does collect a fair amount of personal data and has already be repeated criticized for failing to clearly delineate how long it retains that data.
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+However it's worth bearing in mind that many other company's are just as bad and possibly worse. 
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+Danny Sullivan over at Search Engine Land has a [pointed critique][4] of the PI report that offers a point by point analysis of PI's claims about Google. 
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+Sullivan concludes that "overall, looking at just the performance of the best companies PI found shows that Google measures up well -- and thus ranking it the worse simply doesn't seem fair." 
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+I tend to agree with Sullivan, however, the truth is even the best company's in PI's report track data at a level that might have some reaching for the tin foil hat.
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+So what do you think? Are you worried about Google (or anyone else) knowing what you're doing on the internet? Or are you happy to give Google all your base? Or perhaps more cynically, is information gathering just so rampant that it isn't even possible to fight anymore? Let us know in the comments below.
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+[1]: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-553961 "A Race to the Bottom: Privacy Ranking of Internet Service Companies"
+[2]: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-91571 "About PI - International Advisory Board"
+[3]: http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-553964 "An Open Letter to Google"
+[4]: http://searchengineland.com/070610-100246.php "Google Bad On Privacy? Maybe It's Privacy International's Report That Sucks"
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