Rochester, N.Y.— A controversial new Google privacy policy will take affect on Thursday, March 1.
The company is aggregating the privacy policies of all 60 Google services and making them into just one.
The new policy would allow one Google service to share user data with another Google service. For example, your activity on Google+ will be shared with YouTube. Your activity on YouTube will be shared Google’s search engine. The combine data will be used to create one comprehensive user profile.
The company says that this new policy is to better target search results and to also better customize ads to each user.
Not everyone is a fan of this new policy. Some users say they feel this is a violation of their privacy and they’re upset they don’t have a choice in the matter.
“Don’t force it on me,” says Google user Genell White. “You have to be upfront on people.”
White admits she doesn’t know about the new policy, even though Google has tried to warn users about the changes for weeks.
“Yes, I’ve seen [the warning] pop up but you have stuff to do, you click it off so I didn’t pay attention to it,” she says.
According to British privacy advocate, Big Brother Watch, only 12 percent of Google account holders have read the new privacy policy. Another 47 percent are unaware of the changes.
Brandon Stein says he doesn’t mind the new policy. He points out that all of Google’s services are free.
“It certainly is concerning that we’re being forced into this, but at least from my perspective, I’m getting this great e-mail service for free,” Stein says. “I haven’t had to pay anything to Google. We kind of owe something to these companies if we’re going to use their things.”
He says doesn’t think Google will lose users either.
“They offer the best e-mail service. Therefore I think people are going to be willing to accept these types of invasions as long as they are putting out a free product.”
White isn’t happy with the changes but she feels similarly to Stein. She feels people will stick with their Google products no matter what the company does.
“They get you hooked on them and they know you’re not going to go anywhere. They can continue to do whatever they want and you will continue to take the bait.”
Google account holders have until Wednesday at midnight to block Google from collecting their data. Starting Thursday, users will not have the choice of opting out.
For a list of ways to protect your personal data,
click here.
