False: Google is one of most open companies on the Net

Perhaps I have a different understanding of the issue than you do, but I don't believe the debate is about whether or not Google should be allowed to store an IP address for 18 months. In fact, I believe they anonymize this information. It's over whether or not Google should EVER be able to have your IP address.

The problem this presents is a technical one. When my machine needs to get information from Google's servers, it needs to know their server's IP address. So, DNS is used. Then a handshake occurs where my machine's IP address is given to their servers so that their servers know where to send the reply back to. To not give my IP address to Google's servers would essentially prevent this communication from taking place.

Sure, people can use a PROXY... but even to do THIS, you are giving the PROXY your IP address. In other words, if you use the Internet, you are ALWAYS giving your IP address to SOMEONE... whether it is to the destination site or to a proxy site. It is needed in order to allow the Internet to work.

So, Google (as well as any other website) NEEDS this information to be able to provide a response to you. Sure, they don't need to KEEP it forever... but they already have a process by which they anonymize this data.

People who are panicking with a knee-jerk reaction are trying to make IP addresses (by themselves) personal information, which is ridiculous. Every bit of information has some DEGREE of privacy... many pieces of information when taken together is dangerous... but often, by itself, is benign. For instance, I used to live on Plumas Avenue. This by itself isn't going to let anyone track me down, but it DOES allow someone to narrow me down from billions of people to, perhaps, millions or thousands.

An IP address, by itself, is not personal. An IP address AND a date/time, taken together, *IS* personal. However, we NEED to give up personal information if we want something in return. I can't get money out of an ATM without proving to the ATM who I am. I can't walk into a store without showing my face (I would imagine that if I were wearing a ski-mask, they'd get nervous and probably ask me to remove it.)

If you don't want Google to know who you are... then don't ask them for information. It's as simple as that. For some reason, people want to use the Internet, but they don't want the Internet to know they are using it. This is absurd. Either you are comfortable with the Internet, or you're not. You can't rely on it and use it and, at the same time, try to tear down the very fabric by which is has blossomed in the first place.

Google is just as open as they are expecting everyone else to be. Google has their IP address prominently displayed across the Internet's DNS servers. If you want to use the resources on their computers, why are you unwilling to give up your computer's address for the response to come back to you? You can't order products from a mail-order company and yet not give your address for the products to be shipped. Sure, your address as a whole is private information... but you want something from them and it requires that bit of private information.