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A comment on Google Uses Web Searches to Track Flu’s Spread.

Re:Google Uses Web Searches to Track Flu’s Spread by tocomment on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @08:50PM (#361255)
There must be so many innovative uses of real time search data. I can't imagine what people would come up with if they opened it up. I suppose there are some privacy issues to work out of course.

I wonder if companies with that kind of data are ever tempted by insider trading? For example, imagine if you saw all kinds of job searches coming out of IP addresses known to belong to say GM. You'd get a head start on shorting the stock.

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Re:Google Uses Web Searches to Track Flu’s Spread by unalone on Wednesday November 12, 2008 @12:42AM (#361471)
The only problem, as was demonstrated with the AOL fiasco, is that many people use their searches to target themselves. It's very easy to track some percentage of the world's population down by looking at their search history.

That and if opening search data became known, people would suddenly start restraining their searches. And caution's something I'd rather not have enter the search process.

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