Google Updates Its Privacy Policy – Cool or Creepy?

Google announced on their official blog yesterday that they will be rolling out a new privacy policy that blankets over 60 different Google products.

The new policy – which takes effect on March 1^st, 2012 – will allow Google to share collected user data between all of the Google products it encompasses (Google Books, Google Wallet & Chrome are not included for legal reasons).

Users do not have the option to opt-out of the new policy and if you don’t agree with it, well, your only recourse is to close your accounts with Google. Good thing about that is Google is committed to “data liberation” and they provide instructions on how to take your information elsewhere if you’d like.

A simple, more intuitive Google experience

On one hand, Google sharing data between their services seems like it can prove helpful.

As stated on the official blog post, Google can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and the traffic in that area on that given day. It would be like having a personal assistant by your side to keep you on track.

Plus, the unified privacy policy is easy for consumers to understand. Basically, they’re using your data to keep you on task, provide better spelling suggestions based on what you’ve typed before (even with your friends names) and, of course, serve more relevant ads and search results based off your activity when the opportunity arises.

Stuck between Google and a hard place

On the other hand, I’m not a fan of the fact that I cannot opt out of the new privacy policy.

It’s a little unnerving to think that I’m being watched everywhere I go on the internet – even if I’m doing as little as reading technology articles and surfing social networking sites. It’s just plain creepy.

It’s no surprise that Google’s plan to roll out this new privacy policy has privacy experts concerned.  As Common Sense Media chief executive James Steyer told the Washington Post, “Even if the company believes that tracking users across all platforms improves their services, consumers should still have the option to opt out — especially the kids and teens who are avid users of YouTube, Gmail and Google Search.”

As for Android users? Well, Google is collecting device information (hardware model, operating system version, etc.), log information (search queries, your phone number, calling-party number, duration of calls, IP address, device event information along with cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or Google account). So you can go ahead and expect whatever you do on your mobile device to be logged and compiled into your user profile and used to both your advantage and Google’s.

What it all boils down to...

Privacy concerns aside, we must remember that Google already had mountains of information on users that utilize their services and they're just sharing the data between their services.  As the saying goes, “Why have the information if you’re not going to use it?”

If you don’t want Google to peek over your shoulder while conducting your online activities, you can simply log out of your Google account(s) and go about your business. Oh, and don't do anything on your Android phone that you don't want Google to know about or track.

If you're curious to see what information Google has on you, I suggest you check out your Google Account Dashboard.

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Google eyes logo credit eSarcasm