Not really. But perhaps you'd be forgiven for thinking he has.
As you may or may not have heard, Google has announced changes to its privacy ‘agreements’ which will create a single, unified policy across all of its products. This has caused a bit of a stir in some circles (see what I did there with the Google+ thing), as Google will now be tracking users across all of its services, from YouTube to Gmail, whilst being able to tailor ads and search results to specific individuals.
So how will it work? For example, if you’re doing some research into buying a new car whilst being logged into Google, you might see some recommended videos to do with that very subject the next time you go on YouTube.
You can read the policy in its entirety online, although the points below outline the key things to take from it.
- There is no opt out feature. If you really don’t want to hand over key data to Google, you’ll either have to close your account or constantly keep signing in and out.
- Over 60 different privacy policies combined into one. Google claim they want to make things simpler and more understandable to the user. This has been done by getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across their product range.
- Seamless experience. The new policy has been introduced to create a ‘seamless’ experience, offering more relevant information to users.
From a subjective point of view, frankly I’m not too worried about the change. I’ve been using Gmail as my email client for years during which, I’ve probably never had any privacy from Google. So why start ranting and raving now? Our Social Media guru Nyree Hughes adds a valid point, saying that Facebook have been using our private data for years. So why can’t Google get in on the act?
These changes have been in the pipeline for some time and what is shocking is that people didn’t see it coming. I don’t personally see Google as the evil empire portrayed, they are after all a global organisation trying to make the most of their assets within the law, who wouldn’t do the same?
These changes come into force on March 1st 2012.
