If you’re worried by the recent release of search engine queries by AOL or the government’s request this year for search engine companies to turn over search information, you may be able to relax a bit. A new tool, created by Daniel C. Howe and Helen Nissenbaum of New York University, has been developed to help protect the privacy of internet users by making their list of search queries a little bit longer.

The tool, sporting the handle TrackMeNot, was developed by Howe and Nissenbaum as a solution to what many see as an invasion of privacy – the monitoring and storing by corporations of customers’ search queries. As evidenced by the events of August, when an AOL employee posted online the search queries of over 650,000 AOL customers, what you type into a search bar is by no means guaranteed to be secure or even private information. Anyone who saw samples of these posted searches, or indeed, who has performed an online search, knows that online searches can tell a lot about the person doing the search. TrackMeNot is designed to make it harder for a person to be identified by their searches by generating fake search queries to mix in with the real ones.

TrackMeNot, which works in the Mozilla Firefox browser, issues random “ghost” queries to search engines, generating unique queries from a list of search terms. Though the creators admit that this system will likely not fool those engaged in “serious data-profiling by those aware of the system,” it is seen as a first step toward giving internet users the power to protect their privacy. Not to mention giving them the freedom to search without feeling like they’re being watched.

TrackMeNot isn’t the only option for search engine privacy to appear on the internet since the issue of public access to search engine queries became a public concern. Bloggers are taking initiative and creating their own privacy protection systems. An August 21 entry in “Nemik’s Blog” details an extension created by the blogger that routes the user’s searches through an anonymous search proxy so that the companies are unable to track the searches made. Additionally, the blog “Google Tutor” has compiled a list of ways for you to take your privacy into your own hands. These tools include Nemik’s extension and TrackMeNot. Other tools and means included are:

1. Lost In The Crowd – A site that mixes your searches with a large number of other searches, making yours harder to identify. It works with any browser and all major engines.
2. Tor - Creates a network of onion proxies that allow data to flow through an anonymous peer-to-peer network.
3. FoxyProxy FireFox Extension - An extension that can be configured to use multiple proxies, keeping your online actions anonymous. Works with Tor out of the box.
4. Use a Web-Based Proxy – Free proxies are available on the internet and used to surf anonymously. The blogger advises users to use caution when using an unknown proxy.

In August 2005, when the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) tried to force mega search engine company Google to turn over search query records and URLs, Google refused, bringing the matter to court and into the public eye. After the AOL debacle, many search engine queries were literally in the public eye, which crosses a line in the sands of privacy for many people. Google has claimed they are confident that a mishap similar to AOL's will not occur within Google, and has stated they will continue to log and store search queries. Internet users who value their privacy may be compelled to further research what they can do to keep their online habits away from the hands – and eyes – of third parties.