  In this section, we examine search-engine-related privacy concerns affecting people who have become the subjects, or “targets,” of queries by search engine users. This kind of privacy concern is exacerbated by the ever expanding amount of personal information about ordinary people that is currently discoverable by search engines and thus accessible to Internet users. But why, exactly, is this problematic from the vantage point of privacy? For one thing, it is not clear that most people have voluntarily consented to having information about them placed in databases or in online forums that are accessible to search engines (and thus potentially available to any Internet user). And we noted that search engine users, whether they are acting simply on their own, or as representatives of business and corporations, can and often do access a wealth of information about many of us via search engines. Privacy advocates question whether this practice is fair, especially to people who have not explicitly consented to having personal information about them included in the online forums and databases that are now so easily searchable because of sophisticated search engine technology.