Google’s privacy policy unification has now gone live, and aside from what the media seems to be saying – there is really nothing to be concerned about. The fear pumped into the online public is made up of grossly exaggerated terms and twisted words. Here I am going to explain exactly what this means and how it affects or doesn’t affect you.
The policy allows the Google systems to combine and manipulate data from its 60 free services, something it could not do under its previous policies. Studying through the thousands of pages related to terms & conditions is not something many do – but Google claims that the information is to “personalize” your experience whilst using their services. Some are looking for Bing, Yahoo! and other alternatives to replace their search service but trust me, Google doesn’t want to find out what you like doing on late nights when nobody is home.
Google isn’t collecting more information.
The misconception is that Google are going to be able to learn private information than before but this isn’t the case. What the search giant has always collected is your ‘reasons for being on Google today’ and therefore nothing will change in terms of how much they can collect from you. They will have access to the same details they already have for as long as you have used them. Google uses these statistics for all of its services like Google+, Gmail, Youtube, and so on; but, until now, it has stored that data separately.
Now it will be combining the information to create a bigger picture of who you are – much like how Facebook suggests pages to you and this is also very similar to those who use the music services on Last.FM – “You like this band, you might also like these bands”
Google isn’t going to go all telemarketer on you.
The media and their “privacy experts” are concerned that this change will breach the rights of the users. Let’s go into this. So basically Google is collecting the same details that it always has, but now it’s being used to give you a more comfortable feel and a love for its “personalization” . Say for example, You are using Google Maps. Your “Point A” may have heavy traffic and a couch on the freeway you have chosen - Google would warn you that you’ll be late to the appointment you reminded yourself of Google Calendar.
No matter what you do, Google gon’ find you!!!
If you were to clear your Google web search history via your Google account settings, all you are doing is preventing your search results being personalized. It’s like telling an elderly man with Alzheimer’s your hobbies and aspirations and then walking away – the old man wouldn’t be able to share his experience with you. Bad example? Okay then put it this way – Google has always made $$$ from your searches, and now they will do the exact same thing they always do but this time they will be able to give advertisers a more targeted audience. For instance, if I wanted to aim this site to a specific type of audience (so in this case it would be alternative opinions) then I would tell Google that and they would say “well here is a large bunch of people who like to criticize the media and capitalists” and therefore I would be paying for the readers that I want, and not people who will come to the site and be bored and uninterested in the content.
