Google's Privacy Policy - The For & Against!

Google - Their Privacy Policy

As of this month the new Google privacy policy has come into effect! There has been a lot of noise made about the policy so i went ahead to read the entire thing (And also the Terms of Services). Google has this nifty page where they show all the changes that they made to both the policies. You can find them both here : Privacy Policy & Terms of Services.

From the day that Google announced its plans to introduce its new privacy policy, there has been a fury of reactions! One group is horrified while the other say that it was inevitable.

**Note : Remember to Follow @randomrational for continuous updates!**

For :

First take a look at what Google has to say about the new policy :

In short what it allows them to do is to share information between services and see you as a single user. That means whatever Google service you use, you will be the same single user and not have multiple names for each service! It also means that Google can see more of what you do and make more sense of what you do online. This will obviously give better search results and a better user experience on the whole.

Another thing that is good is that it is pretty easy to read unlike all the older privacy policy, a lot more layman friendly (Even i could follow what they were trying to say!)

Finally the best part of the change is that it integrates all of Google's services under a single policy. It makes it easier to read (If you ever decide to do so)

But that is all that can said for the change.

 

Against :

For one thing many people are angry (To say the least) at the changes! The new policy might nor even be legal in Europe and an investigation is underway about it "Google privacy changes 'in breach of EU law' " (It should be noted that the EU had asked them to postpone the introduction of the new policy to let them study it more closely "Google to EU: Delay? No Way!").

Too Much Power :

Though Google was already monitoring us this effectively gives them a lot more power to do it! Many are concerned that this might be too much

Vague Terms?

When i read the new and old policy i found the old one to be more precise in what they meant. The new one just glossed over many of the things that were discussed in detail in the old policy.

For example :

Old policy it was stated "If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected then we, prior to such use ask for your consent"

New policy : "We will ask for your consent before using information for a purpose other than those that are set out in this Privacy Policy"

According to the old policy if they are using the data they collected from you from your search saying that they are doing so to improve their search they cant use the information on areas other than improving your search results without your prior permission. The new one says that they will only ask your permission if they are not set in the Privacy Policy. Since the new policy is common for all of Google's services then it will mean that if they will have to ask your permission only if they are using it for purposes not related to Google's services. Given that Google is EVERYWHERE on the web this paints a scary picture, doesn't it?

If you have privacy concerns then this is Google's answer :

"

People have different privacy concerns. Our goal is to be clear about what information we collect, so that you can make meaningful choices about how it is used. For example, you can:

• Review and control certain types of information tied to your Google Account by using Google Dashboard.
• View and edit your ads preferences, such as which categories might interest you, using the Ads Preferences Manager. You can also opt out of certain Google advertising services here.
• Use our editor to see and adjust how your Google Profile appears to particular individuals.
• Control who you share information with.
• Take information out of many of our services.
  "

 (Source : Google Privacy Policy )

But whatever the case the new policy is here to stay and we have to live with it. Is there a way out of all this? Yes, stop using Google! But that is almost impossible and I for one am happy to give my details as far as they don't give it away!

Pls understand that I am not an expert on privacy policies and what i have written are the opinions i have about the policy!

Feel free to share what i have missed or if you disagree by leaving a comment!