Google begins encrypting users' search text in China

Google has reportedly started to encrypt text of the searches made by users in China.

This move is seen in response to the mega revelations about the NSA's alleged indiscriminate surveillance on the web and also as a way for people to avoid official scrutiny of where they go online.

Web browsing and social media habits of citizens are monitored in China by a very sophisticated system that attempts to stop people finding out about or sharing information on sensitive subjects.

Google announced that it was now encrypting all the text involved in the searches 'by deafult' around the world, the BBC reports.

Spokeswoman for the search giant, Nikki Christoff, said that the revelations of the past summer underscored their need to strengthen their networks.

Christoff said that encrypting search text was just one of many improvements it had made in the past few months to help people maintain their privacy.

Google had clashed with China's authorities over demands to censor searches or redirect people to government-approved sites in 2010, which reduced the search giant's share to just 5 percent of all searches and making home-grown Baidu, which complies with the official censorship requests, the top grosser, the report added.