Google explains how and why Safari privacy settings were circumvented:
In response, Google says the WSJ report is off-base when it comes to what Google is doing with its advertising cookies on these devices. Google says it was using a known bit of Safari functionality to provide features that were only enabled when users signed into Google using their browser. Google used this functionality to provide personalized ads and the ability to +1 items for signed-in Google users.
Google then pins the problem on Safari; the statement says the browser “contained functionality that then enabled other Google advertising cookies to be set on the browser.” The search giant said it didn’t expect this to happen and is now “removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers.” Google insists that the original cookie enablement was done anonymously and no personal data was collected.
(Via TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog)
If this incident had happened in isolation, I’d probably be more inclined to trust Google’s explanation. But with all the other happenings around Google and it’s behavior lately, it’s hard to take anything they say at face value anymore.
That’s what you get when you hold yourself to an elite standard and then drop that standard when it becomes inconvenient.
