In a move to appease officials of the European Union, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) has announced that it will again shorten the amount of time it keeps individual user statistics. Previously, Google kept user data indefinitely. It then shortened the time frame to a maximum of two years. Now, Google has again announced a reduction in the data retention time frame to a maximum of 18 months, but Google's privacy attorney Peter Fleischer, in a letter to a group of officials advising the European Union on privacy policy, cautioned that the time frame may need to be increased again to conform with future data retention laws.

So, when thinking about Google and what data it may or may not be keeping about you, bear in mind that in some ways it is duty bound by law to keep those records. Not all data retention issues are decided at Google's home office. Google knows full well that for its own consumer profiling purposes a 120 day time frame is quite sufficient to create a profile that would successfully outline a consumer's habits and enable Google to then provide personalized data returns based on those usage habits.

If you're nervous about what data may be kept regarding your internet usage habits, you're better served by taking "Big Brother" to task about it rather than Google. In most instances, it's a matter of government regulation and it's not just a Google issue.

I love labels. I especially love labels when they're devised by 'savvy' marketing analysts or pollsters. And the newest target for the corporate marketing dollar? 'Yoga Moms.'

I love this one particularly, not least because I'm totally a Yoga Mama (I prefer the "mama" moniker to "mom," as do most Yoga Mamas; you all may want to make a note of this). In fact, I registered the domain "spa mama.com" years ago and still receive email to some variant of "zen@" said dotcom. And yes, I do a lot of yoga. Yoga Mamas are said to be very particular about eating organic and feeding it to their kids; buying natural products; and we'll pay top dollar for it.

Whoa! Hold on. Maybe I'm not a Yoga Mama after all. Or maybe y'all have it wrong (still taking notes?) In fact, in my market analysis (done among my friends, many of whom I met at prenatal yoga, or at new mama knitting circles, or at the organic foods market, or as kindred spirits on some mama-centric web site), Yoga Mamas aren't willing to pay top dollar for anything organic or natural; in fact, our choices are much more shrewd than that.

My friends are, in fact, always talking about how they're on a budget, or they don't have money for this luxury or that luxury. Most of us don't spend much on our own clothes, for instance, and we're savvy resale shoppers -- often picking up expensive labels, to be sure, but for a fraction of the retail price. While we'll occasionally splurge on treats for ourselves (heck, someone's keeping those manicurists in business, and we love a good glass of Pinot Noir) we're also fanatic 'unit price' comparers and we won't go back to a place that doesn't fit in with a raft of values, from "respectful" to "green" to "treats its employees well." None of us shop at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). All of us shop at Trader Joe's.