Google is known for doing things differently, and now, they are embracing the fact that most users use many of their products and have come up with a single, unified privacy policy for all Google products. As of March 1, this is the privacy policy they will be using.
One Policy, One Google Experience
Easy to work across Google
Our new policy reflects a single product experience that does what you need, when you want it to. Whether reading an email that reminds you to schedule a family get-together or finding a favorite video that you want to share, we want to ensure you can move across Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube, or whatever your life calls for with ease.
Tailored for you
If you’re signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries – or tailor your search results – based on the interests you’ve expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. We’ll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you’re searching for and get you those results faster.
Easy to share and collaborate
When you post or create a document online, you often want others to see and contribute. By remembering the contact information of the people you want to share with, we make it easy for you to share in any Google product or service with minimal clicks and errors.
What They Do with Your Data
If you want to learn more about your data on Google and across the web, including tips and advice for staying safe online, check out Google’s Good to Know page.
Is It Really a Good Thing?
Some people, at least those who are paying attention, are questioning Google unified privacy policy. European Union officials have asked Google to postpone the launch date to enable them to review the new policy. Check out this editorial from CNN. According to Frida Ghitis, this is what is sitting on Google’s servers, which alas, are probably not hack-proof:
“Google has every e-mail you ever sent or received on Gmail. It has every search you ever made, the contents of every chat you ever had over Google Talk. It holds a record of every telephone conversation you had using Google Voice, it knows every Google Alert you’ve set up. It has your Google Calendar with all content going back as far as you’ve used it, including everything you’ve done every day since then. It knows your contact list with all the information you may have included about yourself and the people you know. It has your Picasa pictures, your news page configuration, indicating what topics you’re most interested in. And so on.
If you ever used Google while logged in to your account to search for a person, a symptom, a medical side effect, a political idea; if you ever gossiped using one of Google’s services, all of this is on Google’s servers. And thanks to the magic of Google’s algorithms, it is easy to sift through the information because Google search works like a charm. Google can even track searches on your computer when you’re not logged in for up to six months.”
Do you like the possibility that all of that personal information could be accessed?
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Tags: gmail, google+, privacy policy, privacy violation, YouTube
