Google Privacy Changes

Google is making some major changes to their privacy policy. These changes will go into effect this week. The new privacy policy has stirred a lot of discussion and concern all over the Internet.

The reason that many users are concerned is that Google will be integrating data from all of their products together to get the most possible data about its users. For example, Google could use data from Google search, Google maps, Youtube, Gmail, etc to find information about its users. Many users are concerned that this will violate their privacy too much.

Google was collecting all of this data before, however, this is the first time Google will put all of the data together to profile a user. Google has reacted to the negative criticism by saying that since they were already collecting this data, no one should be concerned. Luckily, if you choose, there are a few ways to make sure you are not being profiled too much.

Don't Use Google Products

This is the most obvious, and probably unrealistic, way to avoid this. If you are really concerned, you can avoid the major Google products such as Gmail, Google Search, Youtube, etc.

Don't Sign in

By signing out when using Google, Youtube, Google maps, etc, you will be able to stop Google from collecting and using data from you. This tip will work for most Google products. Unfortunately, a few products require you to sign in. For example, you will need to sign in to access your Gmail.

Clear Your Google History

You can delete your Google history and then disable the history functionality. To do this, Sign in to your Google account, Go to www.google.com/history, Click "Remove all Web History", Click "OK". Unfortunately, Google may still have access to this data. However, according to their policy, they can only access this info for 18 months after you delete it. To go along with this, it would be a good idea to clear your Youtube and Gmail chat histories as well.

Looking at the other side of this, Google states that the data they are collecting on you is used make the Google products work better for you. So, if you don't mind that Google is collecting data about you, it may make for a better experience when using the Google products.

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-By Dominic

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