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Can the issue be boiled down to one thing?  Can anyone give a clear answer as to whether Google, or any search engine, is interested in privacy or security or safety or better service?  Probably not.  The Internet has both simplified and complicated our lives.  Our communication of choice lets friends, family, and colleagues quicker access than a walk next door.  It also allows for equally speedy fraud, spam, phishing, and exploitation.

Peter Fleischer, Google's Global Privacy Counsel, recently published two posts, How long should Google remember searches?, at The Official Google Blog and Server Logs and Security, at Peter Fleischer: Privacy...? addressing this complicated question:  server log retention vs server log anonymizing.

According to Fleischer, Google's previous policy to retain private data from 18 to 24 months has been reduced to 18 months, with the provision that future laws could mean raising the retention period to 24 months.  To me, that indicates no policy change at all, but this isn't an editorial and, as I've said, the issue is multi-faceted.

Google maintains its continued interest in security and privacy, innovation and anti-fraud, and has determined the necessity of its 18-month retention policy.

From How long should Google remember searches? (The Official Google Blog):

"We have a legitimate interest in retaining search server logs for a number of reasons:

• to improve out search algorithms for the benefit of users
• to defend our systems from malicious access and exploitation attempts
• to maintain the integrity of our systems by fighting click fraud and web spam
• to protect our users from threats like spam and phishing
• to respond to valid legal orders from law enforcement as they investigate and prosecute serious crimes like child exploitation
• to comply with data retention legal obligations"