Google's Latest Privacy Flub: Asking Kids For Partial SS Numbers

For at least the fourth time since last January, Google is facing questions regarding its views on privacy.

This latest incident stems from the company's Doodle-4-Google contest for students, which allows students to win prizes including a $15,000 scholarship. This year, the company initially asked the entrants, who ranged from kindergarten students to seniors in high school, for the last four digits of their social security numbers. Google said it did so because it wanted to keep better track of entries, since not all of the students attended schools that had registered for the contest. When the move came to light, people immediately questioned why Google would collect that type of sensitive information -- and from children, no less. Among others, Reps Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX), co-chairmen of the House Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus, said they were "deeply disturbed" by the news.