Does Google's Search Engine Share Too Much Information?

This is a partial transcript of "The Big Story With John Gibson," August 9, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

JOHN GIBSON, HOST: Google's CEO might be having second thoughts about his powerful search engine, this after his personal information — from his net worth to his address — was found on Google.com, and published on another web site, CNET.com.

I'm joined by Carolyn Said, a reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle.

Carolyn, thanks a lot.

CAROLYN SAID, REPORTER, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: Hi, John.

GIBSON: Now some people call this stewing in your own juices. I mean, Mr. Google is happy to let all of us, you know, be open to the world through his search engine. Why did he have such thin skin about his own information being published?

SAID: Well, it's a little bit of a case of killing the messenger. I think the important point here is that the CNET story by reporter Elinor Mills made a really good point that in the digital age, our privacy is really at tremendous risk. And the story presents an opportunity to talk about that, of creating safeguards to protect privacy in the digital age.

GIBSON: And Google isn't too happy about these safeguards, are they? I mean, they don't want to install these things on the Google machines, so that we can't find out information that's there, do they?

SAID: Google has a motto of do no evil, and nobody has insinuated that Google itself has any intention of using its service to violate people's privacy.

The problem is that the service could potentially be hacked into by people who do not have such a motto of do no evil. Google collects a lot of information that it does not make available to the public, such as every search that you or I have ever conducted using its engine. That might not be something that you would want other people to be able to find out.

GIBSON: Sure, but certainly the CEO must now understand that, you know, when it comes to private information like how much money you make or where you live, that he is exposing millions of people to, you know, having that revealed, same as it was revealed about him?

SAID: Right. But I don't think it's Google per se. I mean, you could find this information out with Yahoo! or any other search engine just as well. The point is that Scott McNeilly from Sun Microsystems said, "You have no privacy. Get over it." We've created a little bit of a monster.

GIBSON: Why isn't Mr. Google getting over it? Why is he punishing CNET, if that's the slogan they operate by, why is he so sensitive?

SAID: That's a great question. I can't answer it. You would have to ask him that.

GIBSON: Yes, I know. I know. I don't think there's a very good answer.

Carolyn Said from The San Francisco Chronicle. Carolyn, thanks a lot. Appreciate it.

SAID: Thank you.

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