For a greater part of today the lead technology story on the BBC News site was that Google had changed its cookie policy:

“Google has said that its cookies, tiny files stored on a computer when a user visits a website, will auto delete after two years.”

link: Google cookies will ‘auto delete’

Is this something that is beneficial? I was a bit baffled by the importance placed on this change. I looked on some other sites and I think Ryan Singel said it best:

“In reality, the change doesn’t make much of a difference. People who go two years between Google searches on a given browser will have their old queries de-linked from their new ones. Google users who do not occasionally destroy their cookies will continue to have their entire search history recorded for posterity and potential subpoenas. Google users who sign up for an account and don’t know to UNCLICK the Web History box will have almost all of their Web usage recorded by Google.”

link: Google Changes Cookie Policy But Privacy Effect is Small

The Google cookie is set now for thirty one (31) years. The change will be, if you return to visit a site, the Google cookie renews - and resets again to two years. This change in Google’s policy is receiving far more attention than it deserves. Essentially, Google still has all the information and tracking data that it needs. Nevertheless, some positive coverage from some of the media never hurts.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]google, cookies, tracking, data, auto delete, policy, media[/tags]