According to a phone poll on over 1000 Internet users took last week by the Ponemon Institute, more than three quarters of web surfers don't have a clue about Google's possibility of recording and storing personal information that can be used to identify them. This fact proves clearly that the privacy war is far from its end.

Although Google promised initially not to tie its email service to the search service, in the end they have reconsidered the initial decision. A good thing to know is that the lifetime of Google's cookies expires in 2038; the search engine giant can also record the IP address of every user, along with the search history, shopping habits, social contacts and email. All of these are the result of CEO Eric Schmidt's promise to create a "Google that knows more about you".

Google's great dilemma is: go public about all this, or count further on people's "I don't care" way of thinking?

Regarding criminal cases, the same study shows that 56% of the questioned said Google should not turn over information to the Government, and only 14% are more than happy that this is actually possible.