Internet search giant Google Inc has launched a medical records service that lets users in the US store and manage their healthcare information online.

Called `Google Health', the service currently lets users link information from a handful of pharmacies and health care providers, including Quest Diagnostics labs.

Although Microsoft Corporation's HealthVault and AOL co-founder Steve Case's  Revolution Health offer similar services, Google claims to be different in its user interface and public availability of its application programme interface (API).

Google also allayed concerns over privacy, saying it has built a secure computer platform separate from its search system to host medical records as part of an emphasis on keeping the health information protected.

"We have put in place the firmest privacy policy we can construct," Google vice president of search product and user experience Marissa Mayer told reporters at its headquarters in Mountain View, California.

"It is our highest level of security." Google Health has links to pharmacies, clinics and diagnostic labs.

The service is free and enables people to have electronic copies of information such as prescriptions, lab test results, hospital stays, and medical conditions stored on Google computers.

Users can decide the way they want to use the service or how the information is shared.

"Google, on your behalf, is storing a copy of your records," Google Health product manager Roni Zeiger said, adding, "This is a user controlled database that Google is hosting."