1st December 2007
Statement on Internet
Search Engines
Spanish Data Protection Agency
1
1. The importance of search engines in information society
Technology developments have opened up new possibilities of creating and
accessing information on the Internet, and this situation requires that we
consider the repercussions of technology on the rights of individuals—in
principle, such repercussions are neutral.
The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has taken the initiative of
analysing the privacy policies of the largest global companies providing search
engine services on the Internet. To this end it collected information from
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!, said information being completed via meetings
with the global privacy controllers of these corporations in Europe and the
United States.
We must underscore the huge importance, owing to the volume of data that is
processed and the characteristics of that processing, of search engine services
on the Internet (hereinafter, search engines), the main function of which is to
provide lists of results relating to a search, such as addresses and files stored
on web serves, by entering key words, thus arranging all of the information
available on the Internet and making it more accessible. In addition, search
engines usually provide customised services, allowing people to register by
giving an email address and a password.1
In Spain, the fact that these are sensitive issues was shown by the recent
appearance of the Director of the AEPD before the Constitutional Commission
of the Congress on 28th November 2007, where some of the conclusions on the
rendering of search engine services were disclosed
Speaking before the Commission, the Director of the AEPD stated that the
development of search engines, as well as that of other technologies, “puts in
check the traditional criteria regarding the guarantee of privacy and requires an
urgent up