Google has recently announced some new changes in its terms of service and privacy policies, which will be effective from March 1 onwards. Instead of having 70 privacy documents Google has announced plans for only one main privacy policy that will govern its different products. With this new single policy, Google will put together information from one service to another. This means combining Google+ with Gmail with YouTube with whatsoever other Google products you are using.
This is mostly in favour of advertisers and brand marketing that will be able to reach a wider audience without much trouble. This goes in favour of Google too as it will bring in more ad revenues. For Google it means treating a user as single across all of their different products which will then means a simpler Google experience.
However, Google still is very much for data liberation, which means that one can opt out of sharing data through Google products, because Google does not intend to sell users’ information. Google’s privacy policy has come under criticism before, but Google does give priority to users’ transparency of information. In the end it all means more favour to Google products in its search results.
Google’s Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering has said that:
“We can make search better—figuring out what you really mean when you type in Apple, Jaguar or Pink. We can provide more relevant ads too. For example, it’s January, but maybe you’re not a gym person, so fitness ads aren’t that useful to you. We can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day. Or ensure that our spelling suggestions, even for your friends’ names, are accurate because you’ve typed them before.”
Sidrah Zaheer
She is a freelance journalist, interested in social media developments affecting society. She shares ideas in the hope that it might positively inspire something. You can follow her on
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