The Wall Street Journal is reporting on a confidential Google vision statement drafted two years ago, describing the document as a glimpse into the company's "soul-searching" over the use of its "vast trove" of data. "Google is pushing into uncharted privacy territory," the report states, noting, "Until recently, it refrained from aggressively cashing in on its own data about Internet users." According to the report, several of the suggestions included in the "brainstorming document" have been implemented, such as collecting user data to track them for advertising purposes. The next step, the report states, could be for the company to become a clearinghouse for data, which "would put Google--already one of the biggest repositories of consumer data anywhere--at the center of the trade in other people's data as well." (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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