Contest gets Google into privacy flap.(News)

Byline: MichaelLiedtke Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google thought it was doing a good deed last month when it opened an annual art contest to more kids across the U.S. The gesture instead has turned into another opportunity for Google's critics to question if the Internet search leader is overstepping privacy boundaries by seeking too much information from its users.

In this case, Google initially asked parents to provide the final four digits of their children's Social Security numbers along with their dates and cities of birth to ensure there were no duplicate entries.

After school administrators, parents and a children's group balked, Google dropped the request for the partial Social Security numbers. The change occurred Feb. 18, about halfway through the two-month entry window for the fourth annual "Doodle 4 Google."

But Google's about-face evidently didn't satisfy Bob Bowdon, the director of a documentary about problems in the public education system. In a commentary published this week on the Huffington Post website, Bowdon asserted Google conceivably could figure out all nine digits of the children's Social Security numbers and create a database that could turn into a gold mine of personal information.

Although there was no evidence of Google manipulating the data, other critics pounced in blog postings and wondered whether the company had violated its "don't be evil" motto.

At the very least, the backlash demonstrates Google needs to monitor its employees more closely to ensure they are sensitive to the privacy concerns.