Google’s Updated Privacy Policy
Google updated its privacy policy. Via Yahoo! News: The new policy, issued Friday, states that Google may use personal information to display customized content and advertising, develop new services and ensure that its network continues to function. The practices aren’t new but weren’t explicit before.And while the old policy says Google restricts access of such information to employees on a need-to-know basis, the new policy stresses that those individuals may be fired or criminally prosecuted for violations.Google also reorganized its disclosures, bringing to the top details on information collected for e-mail, personalized search and other newer services that require registration.
How comfortable are you with Google having personal info on you? Personally, I’m okay with it. As long as their motto is "don’t be evil," I think it will be fine. Seriously though, if targeted ads are what paid for my free 2 Gigs of email storage at Gmail, then bring on the targeted ads!
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Personally I like the targeted ads. When I’m emailing back and forth to a friend about something I can look over to the right and see websites that have to do with the same subject that I’m talking about in my e-mail.
I agree Sarah, its not like i have anything to hide anyways..lol..and i get spam no matter what
Personally I’m more worried over the latest post on my blog.
It’s a big dilemma. The contrast is between the bad and the good of having thing centralized in one place.
It’s good because you can switch computers, reinstall operating systems, jump on your HD, etc.
It’s bad because it’s centralized, but data is not in your hands.
I mean, movies like this one [1], make me think a lot. They could connect your nam e with your email data, with your googlegroups data, with your blogroll data, with your search history data, and just to stay focused with what Google could do /alone/. Connecting these data with other databases could be really crazy. I mean it frightens me a bit.
Jenny says “its not like i have anything to hide anyways”: I think it’s partially true, I mean I am sure they (whatever “they” means here, govt, police, aliens) get to know whatever they want to know about our online life whenever they want. Let’s at least make their task a bit more difficult, no?
Take care you all, flevour.
[1] http://www.robinsloan.com/epic/
I have mixed feelings about it. There’s that whole Big Brother issue looming in the background. But as you say, what do I have to hide? Nothing on my computer, really. Even my blog is open to the public, too.
On the other hand, it is MY identity, and over time, all these bits and pieces of information can add up. With my own history, that would be pretty boring to read through. But for some people, it could possibly be used against them in a legal sense.
How are they going to guarantee our private information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands or is otherwise given/traded/sold to a company that we wouldnt want to do business with if we were given the choice?
They can’t.