It was
bound to happen. The database of all Google searches you and the whole world made since way back when is the target for the next massive invasion of privacy.
Here's how you can protect yourself...
First, don't allow Google's cookies. Google uniquely identifies you, independently of your IP address (which is usually assigned dynamically by your ISP) using a cookie.
Google Privacy FAQ
1. What is personal information?
"Personal information" is information that you provide to us which personally identifies you, such as your name, email address or billing information, or other data which can be reasonably linked to such information by Google.
2. What is a Google Account?
You may access some of our services by signing up for a Google Account and providing us with some personal information (typically your name, email address and a password). This account information will be used to authenticate you when you access Google services and protect your account from unauthorized access by others. We may share personal information among our various services in order to customize content and enhance our services for you. No account information is shared with anyone other than Google except as specified in the Privacy Policy or with your consent.
You can edit or terminate your account at any time through your Google Account settings.
3. What is a cookie?
A "cookie" is a small file containing a string of characters that is sent to your computer when you visit a website. When you visit the website again, the cookie allows that site to recognize your browser. Cookies may store user preferences and other information. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, some website features or services may not function properly without cookies.
4. What are server logs?
Like most Web sites, our servers automatically record the page requests made when users visit our sites. These "server logs" typically include your web request, Internet Protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser.
Here is an example of a typical log entry where the search is for "cars", followed by a breakdown of its parts:
123.45.67.89 - 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 - http://www.google.com/... - Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 - 740674ce2123e969
* 123.45.67.89 is the Internet Protocol address assigned to the user by the user's ISP; depending on the user's service, a different address may be assigned to the user by their service provider each time they connect to the Internet;
* 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 is the date and time of the query;
* http://www.google.com/... is the requested URL, including the search query;
* Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 is the browser and operating system being used; and
* 740674ce2123a969 is the unique cookie ID assigned to this particular computer the first time it visited Google. (Cookies can be deleted by users. If the user has deleted the cookie from the computer since the last time s/he visited Google, then it will be the unique cookie ID assigned to the user the next time s/he visits Google from that particular computer).
And use a proxy service also know as anonymizers to cover your point of origin.