Greetings. Google has announced that they are reducing the period that they retain fully non-anonymized logged IP address data from 18 months to 9 months.

Details are not available at this time, and some observers will no doubt harangue that Google was pressured into this action by ongoing regulatory scrutiny.

However I choose to focus on Google's decision as another step in a continuing positive evolution of the firm over time, with the full understanding that balancing the many complex factors associated with this sort of log data is a decidedly non-trivial task.

Keep in mind that around the world, including in Europe and the U.S., there are also legislative moves to require the lengthy retention of a wide variety of log data, ostensibly for law enforcement and other public safety purposes. To say that this creates a complicated environment for a global organization of Google's scope is an understatement to say the least.

Despite the technology that is the visible aspect of Google to most of us, in reality Google is actually people -- individuals with a range of opinions at all levels within the firm. In particular, Google's announcement makes it explicitly and publicly clear that they are cognizant of the often conflicting mix of forces and world views that interplay with data retention concerns.

One thing's for sure -- these are not simple issues, and to pretend that they can be easily resolved to everyone's satisfaction is nothing more than an unrealistic illusion, that doesn't usefully advance the ball at all.

--Lauren--

Update: Google has also now just announced that the data retention period for non-anonymized logged IP address data from use of Google Suggest (which I discussed in relation to Google's Chrome Web browser a week ago) will be reduced to less than 24 hours or so. Jolly good show.

--LW--