Was Google's hand caught in cookie jar over Safari privacy settings?
22.05.12
Google has said that it used the workaround to attach a temporary cookie to users’ machines to see whether users were signed in to its services. If so, the cookie allowed Google to serve them personal ads or gain the ability to use its “+1” button. Google said that it was unaware that that further cookies were being attached to users’ machines.
Google’s tactics were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Rachel Whetstone, a Google spokeswoman, said, “The Journal mischaracterizes what happened and why. We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It’s important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information.”
In other Google news, the search engine behemoth received a bit of good news yesterday when Nevada approved regulations for driverless cars. The Verge reports :
Nevada is becoming the first US state to approve and regulate rules for self-driving cars on its roadways. Nevada's Legislative Commission approved regulations on Wednesday that will allow for the testing of autonomous vehicles, with a red license plate, on the streets of Las Vegas and other cities. Nevada state was originally lobbied by Google last year to introduce the regulations, although it's not clear why the search giant is throwing money at automated cars throughout Nevada instead of its home state of California. Nevertheless, Nevada has partnered with Google, insurance companies, universities, automobile manufacturers, and law enforcement to create the regulations that will introduce the future of automobiles.
Source: Washington Post