Google Privacy

I decided to write about the article, “Google Privacy Change Provokes Outrage.”  This is a write-up about Google changing their privacy policy so instead of 60 different policies for all their services they now have one policy that covers everything.  The plus side to this is that when people sign up for any new Google service they no longer have to pretend to read what the privacy policy is all about.  If you have one Google service you might as well have them all because Google has the same rules for everything now.

The biggest reason for Google creating a single privacy policy to cover everything is because they can now use your information from all your different platforms and searches, and create a specific ad campaign for you.  Google will know where you are most often, what you search for on the internet, what you are e-mailing to your friends, and if you use Google calendar they will even know where you are going to be and at what time.  The combination of all this information is causing a few people to speak out against it.  Connecticut Senator Blumenthal said he is troubled by the lack of an opt-out mechanism.  This means there is no way to deny the sharing of your information, if you want to use a Google service you must agree to the privacy policy.

In my opinion this change can be good or bad depending on how Google uses the information they gather.  To me, if Google sends me advertisements, I would prefer those advertisements to be personalized.  It is of no use for me to be receiving ad’s for things I have never heard of, or for places I have never been or will ever be.  But if the advertisements are more tailored to me and my personal tastes, maybe I will find something I like.  As long as Google uses this information solely for the good of the consumer I have no problem with this united privacy policy.