In an effort to curb
growing controversy, Google has posted a direct link to its privacy policies on
its homepage.  Activist and “regulatory bodies” had accused the search giant of
violating a California state law requiring commercial websites that
collect personal information to post such a link.

For its part, Google
insists that it puts a high priority on privacy, saying that “trust is the basis
of everything we do.” The company’s corporate blog
also explains that the homepage was tweaked in order to maintain a critical
28-word count. Privacy groups quickly praised Google’s
decision.