11/16/05

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All Your Data Are Belong to Us

Google today released Google Base, a service that allows users to submit data and organize it through tagging. It's Flickr. It's Craiglist. It's a dessert topping and floor wax! The New York Times has Salar Kamangar, Google's vice president for product management, suggesting that "the service would enable users to store all kinds of information ranging from DNA sequences to home recipes, allowing both commercial and noncommercial uses." The devil -- isn't he always? -- is in the details. Among the service's policies: "Posting is not permitted for the promotion of body parts or human remains." Limb collectors, don't ditch your deep freezes yet. The "promotion of miracle cures, such as 'Cure cancer overnight!'" is also forbidden. While it's good to see Google sticking up for science, it will be interesting to see where the company draws the line for quackery. One final prohibition of note: "You may not post content that includes contact or personal information about another individual without their permission." If you want that sort of data, stick with Google.com.

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