In the spirit of spreading rumors as far as possible there have been lots or reports(here, here and here for example) recently of the emergence of the Google Phone. How much of this is just circular linking of the same tiny bit of news remains to be seen.

But it is interesting that the buzz level is rising so fast.

From GigaOM, here are claims about “Five Facts About Google Phone”

1. Google Phone is based on a mobile variant of Linux, and is able to run Java virtual machines.
2. All applications that are supposed to run on the Google Phone are java apps. The OS has ability to run multimedia files, including video clips.
3. The user interface is similar to a UI typical of mobile phones…is said to be done in Java and is very responsive. And of course it has a search box.
4. There is a special browser which has pan-and-browse features that are common to modern browsers such as browsers for iPhone and Symbian phones.
5. Initially there was one prototype, but over past few months Google has the mobile OS running on 3-to-5 devices, most of them likely made by HTC, a mobile phone maker, and all have Qwerty apps.

So there is the gossip of the day. Make of it what you will.

The search industry seems to be moving in the right direction when it comes to privacy. Privacy based competition is good for everyone. It should be a dimension on which consumers get to choose who they use for search.

So here’s the roundup on what people are claiming:

Microsoft announced announced that the company will make search query data anonymous after 18 months by permanently removing cookie IDs, the entire IP address and other identifiers from search terms. In connection with its efforts to support a common industry approach to privacy issues, Microsoft also announced that it will join the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) later this year when it begins to offer third-party ad serving broadly. And, get this, they even have a Chief Privacy Strategist.

Ask.com recently announced they would start implementing a new service called AskEraser that will offer its searchers control over their privacy when searching for information on the Web. With AskEraser, users of the search site can ensure that their search history will not be retained by Ask.com.

Microsoft and Ask have also joined together to call on the industry to develop global privacy principles for data collection, use and protection related to searching and online advertising.

Microsoft and Ask.com are proposing that leading search providers, online advertising companies and privacy advocates convene to engage in an active dialogue to discuss privacy considerations posed by the proliferation of online advertising and search. The goal of the dialogue is to determine ways that the industry can work cooperatively to define privacy principles that take these new considerations into account. The companies will provide an update on their progress in September.

Yahoo said it would delete identifying addresses and cookies after 13 months unless users want the data held longer or law enforcement agencies require it to store the information for longer.

Google recently announced on its blog that they will anonymize search server logs — including IP addresses and cookie ID numbers — after 18 months, however this seems to conflict a little with an earlier posting describing the time period to be 18 to 24 months.

On a separate front, it will be interesting to see what Google does to Feedburner’s privacy policy now that they are acquiring Feedburner as I raised this concern some time ago. As a side note, Dave Winer has furthered the conversation about Google’s acquisition of Feedburner to raise concerns about the power position Google is building and the risks it creates.