Google adds SSL to global search sites

Survey finds increasing unrest among consumers for search tracking

Google has increased security on its searches worldwide by extending default SSL encryption to searches made from any of its regional sites, such as google.co.uk.

Previously SSL was only applied to searches made from the US site, google.com.

Meanwhile, a survey by Pew Internet reveals a dislike among the majority of American adults for personalised search.

Applying SSL encryption will "increase the privacy and security of your web searches," said Google software engineer Michael Safyan, on a brief blog posting.

SSL will only be applied to searches if users are signed into their Google accounts.

However, 73 per cent of respondents to Pew Internet's survey of more than 2,200 US adults felt it was an invasion of their privacy for a search engine keeping track of their searches and use that information to personalise future search results.

A similar proportion (68 per cent) disliked targeted advertising because they don't like having their online behaviour tracked and analysed.

Only 38 per cent said they knew how to prevent tracking when searching and browsing.

Google's privacy stance recently attracted a battering from EU data protection chiefs and non-governmental privacy groups.

Last month the search giant agreed to add a ‘do not track' (DNT) feature to its browser Chrome after the White House backed DNT in a proposed Privacy Bill of Rights.