Google’s New Master Privacy Policy

Photo titled: "Scary Google with Sauron Eyes" by dullhunk on flickr

Google, Inc. announced their new “master privacy policy” earlier this week, which will take effect on March 1, 2012. The new policy will replace 60 different privacy policies currently in place. Google’s goal of implementing the new policy is as follows; “Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.”

One of the major changes stemming from the new policy is the relationship of the user to all of Google’s products. A user will be treated as a single user. Now information will be shared across Google products, including YouTube, Picasa, Calendar, and Gmail. Under the current policy, information is maintained by each individual Google produce, rather than consolidated. By sharing information across multiple products, Google has the ability to offer more innovative features for users, customize ads, and compete with Facebook.

Eight House lawmakers already reacted to Google’s updated policy by writing a letter to Google Chief Executive, Larry Page, requesting a response by mid-February. The lawmakers, which consist of 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans, requested more information about the policy mainly regarding the collection and storage of information. Their main concern stems from a user’s ability to opt out of data collection. The lawmaker’s wrote, “Google's announcement raises questions about whether consumers can opt-out of the new data sharing system either globally or on a product-by-product basis."

Betsy Masiello, the company policy manager, responded to the letter on a blog post. She said, the company looks “forward to answering those questions, and clearing up some of the misconceptions about our privacy policies.”

A lot of the criticism stems from a lack of understanding of what information Google is currently able to obtain, and what they are going to be obtaining in the future. The information Google can access has not changed, however their process for handling the information has. In Google’s 2005 privacy policy, the company states, “We may combine the information you submit under your account with information from other Google services or third parties in order to provide you with a better experience, and to improve the quality of our services.”

Users should be aware of the new effective privacy policy to understand what type of data Google is capturing. Check out the new privacy policy below:

Google Privacy Policy, available at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/preview