Google is easily the top dog. There have been some pretty scary statements made about Google and the privacy of search requests recently. You may have heard that Google was nominated for a “Big Brother” award. You may also have read that Google knows everything you ever searched for. Should you be frightened? With Google Toolbar, Google Search, Google Mail, Google Docs, etc., collecting information about users both as a means of revenue with targeted advertising and as part of the search service itself, it is still not clear how Google utilize this information or data collected through various channels?

Relax. Yes, there are privacy issues to be aware of when you do a search at Google. However, these issues are just as much as a concern for other searches engines you visit, as well. More importantly, the fear that you personally could be tracked isn’t realistic, for the vast majority of users, at least by Google itself.

Clearly some people are worried about the privacy of their search requests, be it at Google, Yahoo or any other search engine. Google has taken the most heat over this issue lately, and largely without cause. Nevertheless, a useful thing that the entire search industry might do is to reexamine their privacy policies and consider expanding them to provide more clarifications about what exactly happens with search data on a personal basis.

As for services that do record personal information with searches, I could well see them providing an option to opt-out of this. Or, if they won’t allow an opt-out, they might have to provide better guarantees about how that information is safe-guarded or destroyed over time.