Google’s Public Domain Name Service Raises Privacy Concerns

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Google dominates everything from web search to online applications. Google has recently launched a free public domain name service, which can serve as an alternative to the service typically provided by ISPs. Google insists it will respect its customers’ privacy and not bombard them with ads.

A Domain Name Service, commonly referred to as a DNS, acts like an internet switchboard, converting a text address string like “www.dailytech.com” into an IP address — a series of dot-separated number fields that tell the computer exactly where to send its request for information to. Most internet service providers provide their own DNS, but you do have the chance to use a third-party service.

Now Google has become the biggest party yet to jump on this chance, launching Google Public DNS. The DNS allows Google to control the routing of internet traffic, and see much of the user information typically held only by ISPs. Google insists, though, that it’s working hard to keep its users info private and anonymous. It says that it will only save user IPs for 24 to 48 hours, and that’s only to protect against attacks or identify technical problems. It will store your “metro-level” (probably city and state) location and the pages you visit — but it says that info isn’t associated with any information that can identify you (like IP logs).

Google also logs many technical details about your requests, including how long they took. According to Google, that’s the upside of its new service — it can “make users’ web-surfing experiences faster, safer and more reliable.”

Surprisingly, unlike some ISPs that place ads on the error page when a domain can’t be resolved, Google’s service is ad free for now. It states, “If you issue a query for a domain name that does not exist, Google Public DNS always returns an NXDOMAIN record, as per the DNS protocol standards.”

However, not all are convinced that Google’s service will stay ad-free for long. Describes OpenDNS’s David Ulevitch, “You have to remember they are also the largest advertising and redirection company on the Internet. To think that Google’s DNS service is for the benefit of the Internet would be naive. They know there is value in controlling more of your Internet experience, and I would expect them to explore that fully.”

Jason Mick