Google's new toolbar extension may give Web surfers the feeling they're being watched. That's because one version of Google's toolbar keeps track of every site a person visits to analyse search and surfing patterns. "By using the Advanced Features . . .
Google's new toolbar extension may give Web surfers the feeling they're being watched. That's because one version of Google's toolbar keeps track of every site a person visits to analyse search and surfing patterns. "By using the Advanced Features version of the Google Toolbar, you may be sending information about the sites you visit to Google," the company warns during the Toolbar installation process. "In order to show you more information about a site, the Google Toolbar has to tell us what site you're visiting which it does by sending us the URL."

Google launched its new toolbar Monday just as privacy advocates are calling attention to the potential hazard of free software extensions, some of which collect more personal information than people who download them may realise.

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