The new Google privacy policy is due to launch at 1st of March, 2012. This privacy update has created a lot of buzz in the online arena, and has received mixed responses from the audiences.
Google’s new privacy policy is a summarized and condensed form of its prevalent privacies. The new privacy policy will cover all the policies that were concerned with all the products of Google, and now would be available in a generic policy document. The points which the new policy covers and which every internet marketing agency should know about are given below.
1. The Way Information is Collected:
The policy explains the way Google collects the personal information. The information is collected in two ways:
- When a user signs up for Google account, then Google may collect information like, phone number, contact address, email address, or credit card information.
- Google also collects information when a user uses its services, like the interaction with ads, website visits, location, search queries, and so on.
2. Use of Collected Information:
Google uses the collected information to improve its services. It can be in the form of:
- Tailoring ads and search results
- Contextualize future interaction with Google
- Language preferences to enhance the user experience.
3. Access of Information:
The user can control Google’s access to information; its access can be controlled by:
- Editing the ad preferences
- Controlling the information associated with Google account.
- Using the browser to block cookies that are associated with Google services
- By adjusting the appearance of your Google account.
4. Visibility of Information:
Google cannot make the information visible to anyone unless it has your consent. All affiliates that will have access to your information will do so in compliance with the privacy policy.
Controversies:
Like any other update, this privacy policy of Google is also prone to controversies. The three major controversies prevailing right now are discussed below.
1. People, who indulge in social media marketing platforms like Facebook, fear the privacy update. Facebook is known to discreetly change the privacy policy, and then the user has to work hard to stop the information from going public. The users of social media fear that Google might do the same with their privacy.
2. Though Google makes it clear how it’s going to use the gathered information. However, for a layman, any thing that concerns his privacy is creepy and a threat to personal information.
3. Although Google provides clear instruction how you can make your information private, yet securing the privacy would be a hard thing to do for a normal user, and ultimately he would have to rely on Google to take care of it.
Conclusion:
In short, Google does its best not to frighten the users with its privacy policy, but no matter how hard it tries, user will be frightened and cautious about any thing that concerns their privacy.