Google Inc. is experimenting with a feature that enables the users of its online search engine to see all of their past search requests and results, creating a computer peephole that could prove as embarrassing as it is helpful.
Activating Google's ``My Search History'' service, unveiled yesterday afternoon at http://labs.google.com, requires users to create a personal login with a password. Users of Google's e-mail, discussion groups and answer services can simply use their existing log-ins.
Whenever a user is logged in, Google will provide a detailed look at their past search activity.
Users will be able to pinpoint a search conducted on a particular day, using a calendar displayed on the history page.
``We think there is some value in providing people with visibility into their past activity on Google,'' said Marissa Mayer, the company's director of consumer Web products.
But privacy-rights expert Pam Dixon is worried the service will make it easier for mischief makers, snoops and perhaps even the government to get their hands on a user's entire search history.
``It's really a bad idea,'' said Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum.
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