[GLLUG] Proposed meeting topic and maybe a project

[Stanley C. Mortel]

As many of you probably know, Google is watching us and stockpiling data 
about our on-line activities. Here is a partial list of information 
Google stockpiles (from a TechRepublic article) if you use their services:

    * Search results
      <http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/another-step-to-protect-user-privacy.html>
      that you ask for and click on.
    * Directions <http://maps.google.com/> to places that you query
      Google Maps for.
    * Using Analytics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics>,
      Google receives/retains information on visited Web sites.
    * Gmail <http://mail.google.com/mail/help/privacy.html> membership
      allows Google to retain the content of sent and received e-mail
      messages.
    * Enabling My Location
      <http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/07/blue-circle-comes-to-your-desktop.html>,
      enables Google to track your position real-time.
    * If Public DNS <http://code.google.com/intl/en/speed/public-dns/>
      is used, Google can retain your DNS lookups.

Moxie Marlinspike <http://www.thoughtcrime.org/about.html> has an app. 
called GoogleSharing that will anonymize personal information, 
preventing Google from tracking movement on the Internet.  It 
intermingles Google user requests, and thus complicates making any 
association between the query and the requester's personal information.  
It intercepts Google requests, redirecting them to the GoogleSharing 
proxy, which removes all identifying information, replacing it with a 
surrogate identity. The request is then forwarded to Google.

Now, the interesting thing to me, considering you have to trust 
Marlinspike more than Google to use this, is that he has made the 
GoogleSharing software 
<http://www.googlesharing.net/server/googleshare-0.4.tar.gz> available 
for download. That way, you can create your own proxy. The GoogleSharing 
website has a FAQ page <http://www.googlesharing.net/faq.html> 
explaining how.  Sounds like a GLLUG project to me.  Topic for tomorrow?????

Stan

Link to TechRepublic article:

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/security/?p=3032&tag=nl.e036
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