Cool Hunting

Did you know that every Google search you make is recorded and archived by the company?

Privacy-minded folks point out that as Google has become part of our everyday lives, our tastes and preferences on the net give away a lot more than we'd normally share with a stranger, let alone a corporation with nearly 14,000 employees worldwide.

While Google keeps your search terms until 2038, the folks at Scroogle delete the logs after 48 hours and vow to keep no cookies. What's better is the search uses Google's own technology. In technospeak, it randomly generates an IP number (the thing that allows your computer to be ID'd) and sends your request off to Google. When Google responds, it shows you the search results. Hence the name, as it “scrapes” the search engine giant to get results.

It's a shoe-string operation put together by the folks at GoogleWatch (founded by an ex-Google employee) and only handles about 90,000 searches a day compared to Google's 200 million.

Still, Scroogle is one way to make a statement that you don't appreciate giving out your net habits to total strangers. Because the fact that you're obsessed with finding Lindsay Lohan's latest mugshot is your private affair, right?

Also on Cool Hunting: Blackle