Google and Ad Companies Bypass Privacy Settings on Safari Browser

By Karla Robinson
February 20, 2012

Google has disabled a computer code that it was previously using to bypass privacy settings on Apple’s Safari browser in order to track “the Web-browsing habits of people who intended for that kind of monitoring to be blocked,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Google placed the code within ads displayed on popular sites and once activated, the code enables Google tracking across most websites. The sites, however, had no knowledge of the code.
“We were not aware of this behavior,” said Michael Balmoris, AT&T spokesman. “We would never condone it.”
In response, Google said in a statement: “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.”
Google faces criticism on a number of fronts, especially in response to the recent changes to its privacy policy across all its services. Its search results that promote Google+ have also been highly controversial.

No Comments Yet