Hard to say what point, exactly, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was trying to make in his appearance on CNBC, but his words have struck an angry cord with some in the tech community, who are now raising the question: might it be time to wean yourself from Google?

Schmidt’s transgression was to state: “If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines--including Google--do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."

So, was Schmidt basically warning all Internet users of the limits of their privacy? Or was his comment a Freudian slip regarding Google’s casual attitude about your privacy? For Asa Dotzler, Mozilla’s director of community development, it’s the latter, and he says if that’s the way Google wants to play it, then he advises users to drop Google and adopt Bing.

Dotzler maintains that Microsoft, the equally imposing tech behemoth that it is, has a better privacy policy than Google. Microsoft doesn’t tightly ‘connect-the-dots’, relating user searches to such things as their email or online app use, and it stores data for a shorter period of time than Google. It’s not ideal, but its better than what Google offers. And with Schmidt’s apparent distain for user privacy, a switch might be something to consider.

 

Image Credit: Google, Microsoft