Concerns arose Friday, after the release of a contract between Google and the University of Michigan, about the privacy of searchers who use Google Print to search through library collections, writes CNET. Privacy advocates have complained that the contract contained no provisions to safeguard the privacy of searchers when U of M's library is digitized and indexed for the web. Google's library project has already elicited complaints from publishers regarding copyright concerns.

"I would have hoped that the University of Michigan would be sensitive to the fact that Google tracks everything that everyone searches," said Daniel Brandt, founder of the Google-watch.org Web site. Google has in the past stated that Google Print does not require users to share any personally identifiable information.

According to the American Library Association code of ethics, libraries should preserve the privacy and confidentiality of library users; the code also recommends that they ask third-party partners to offer the same level of protection.

Google announced the project late last year and plans to digitize vast library resources of some the world's leading education institutions and others, including Harvard, Oxford, and the New York Public Library.