A judge ordered Google to share its search data. What does that mean for user privacy?

toggle caption Don Ryan/AP/AP

Earlier this month, when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta issued penalties against Google for monopolizing the search engine market, he stopped short of the harshest ones — like forcing the breakup of the company.

Instead, Mehta ordered Google to share portions of its incredibly valuable search index and user click-and-query data with some of its competitors. This move, which will make it easier for rivals to build their own search engines, is meant to even the playing field in the search space and chip away at Google's monopoly power.

But it raises a new concern: How to keep Google user data private once it is handed over to third parties. Tech and data privacy analysts are warning that sharing this data could put private information at risk in ways users never agreed to.

Sponsor Message

Google already shares some aggregate user information, like search trends or how often people use Google, with third parties, including advertisers, business partners and sponsors, the company says. But it's not personally identifiable information. (More granular and identifiable information can be shared if Google is ordered to comply with a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order.)

"Google already shares your data . That's part of the contract that you make when you sign up for a Google product. So that should come as no surprise to us," said cybersecurity expert Betsy Cooper, the director of the Aspen Institute's Policy Academy.