The security breakdown, disclosed earlier this week, publicly exposed about 19 million search requests made by more than 658,000 AOL subscribers during the three months ended in May. Time Warner Inc. (TWX)'s AOL intended to release the data exclusively to researchers, but the information somehow surfaced on the Internet and was widely copied.

The lapse provided a glaring example of how the information that people enter into search engines can provide a window into their embarrassing - or even potentially incriminating - wishes and desires. The search requests leaked by AOL included inquiries seeking information about murder techniques and nude teenage girls.

Despite the breach in security, rival and partner Google said it will not stop collecting data on users' searches.

In response to a reporter's question,[Google CEO Eric] Schmidt said some good could still emerge from AOL's error by raising public awareness about the issue. "It may be positive because we want people to know what can happen" to online search requests, Schmidt said.

Google keeps its users' search requests as part of its efforts to better understand what specific people are looking for on the Internet.

But by storing the search requests, Google and its competitors are creating an opportunity for the material to be mistakenly released or stolen, according to privacy advocates.

Schmidt said he is less concerned about those possibilities than the governments of countries around the world demanding to review people's search requests. "I have always worried the query stream is a fertile ground for governments to snoop on the people."

Let's face it, folks.  Our private lives are increasingly under scrutiny.  Why that information interests others comes down to one thing: control. 

In short, our very freedom lies in the balance.  And no, I am not overstating the case.  If the people don't resist these incursions soon, in the very near future, they may be unable too.

The link:  http://apnews.myway.com//article/20060811/D8JEBSM80.html