Google Claims Schmidt's Statements are Taken Out of Context

From DailyTech: Google set privacy concerns ablaze last week when CEO Eric Schmidt sated "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." The comments quickly rankled many users and privacy advocates.

The comments by Schmidt were rather ironic considering he banned CNET from Google for a year after the publication posted personal information about Schmidt that it had found via Google. In the end, the responses given by Schmidt indicated to many that he and Google have no regard for personal privacy.

Schmidt's statements promoted the Electronic Frontier Foundation to say, "Unfortunately, Schmidt's statement makes it seem as if Google, a company that claims to care about privacy, is not even concerned enough to understand basic lessons about privacy and why it's important on so many levels -- from protection against shallow embarrassments to the preservation of freedom and human rights."

InformationWeek reports that Google is now trying to backtrack a bit on the statements made by Schmidt by claiming that they were taken out of context.

A Google spokesperson emailed a statement to InformationWeek that stated, "The context in which Eric answered this question was clear. He was talking about the US Patriot Act. The [CNBC] documentary later made clear the lengths to which Google goes to inform and empower users about privacy-related concerns, including creating a dashboard in which users can review and control data in their Google accounts."

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