You have downloaded our browser plug-in, which allows us to automatically submit search queries to Google up to six times a day, the results of which are automatically sent to a University server in Kaiserslautern Germany.
First, you will have to fill in a demographic survey to provide some statistical data and allow us to assign you to a study with respective settings such as a set of keywords and the URL of a search provider.
The plugin sends the query along with the current settings of the plugin, and a study ID. To do this, a tab must be opened, which closes again after retrieving the data. The plugin then sends details such as URL, title and content on web search results, advertising and top stories.
Taking part in the study is free and will not be compensated. You contribute to a scientific cause and results will be provided to the public with an open source licence.

What do we extract from these data and who gets to see the data?
Each user gets assigned a unique number, its user-in ID. After each query, the plugin will send the following data:
User ID
As assigned after filling out the demographic survey. Unique for every user
Study ID
As assigned after signing up with your data. This resembles your study category.
Plugin version
Referring to the configuration data your plugin runs on. Helps us to stay up to date.
Language
The language your browser runs on.
Keywords
The keywords used for a query.
Search date and time
The date and time the query was fired.
Ads, Results and Topstories
Information about ads, results and topstories on the Google web search page.
This is only data you are already able to view if you do a manual Google search.

De-anonymization:
As far as we know, without the user ID search queries cannot be traced back to a specific person.
Even after adding the user ID, it is very unlikely that the search results - especially with the very general search terms used by the plugin – will be sufficient to identify users.
Because search data of several months will be associated with one User ID – and, therefore, in many cases with one person - we will analyze samples to ensure that a possibly personalized search result will not be published. Anything providing any further clues regarding the identity of the users, for example, the search for a disease yielding a localized result would require us to delete this data. Our security measures are continuously improved in line with technological developments.