HOTELMARKETING.COM

Google’s new privacy policy: Should you be concerned?

January 26, 2012 | Online Marketing

Just days after launching a new personalized search that has drawn criticism from both competitors and users, the company’s announcement that it’s revising its privacy policies has touched off another wave of discontent about the implications for users.

So is Google’s new omnibus policy another sign it has broken its promise and is becoming more evil by the day? Or is the fuss over the new version, which will allow the search giant to share data among its various services, just a tempest in a privacy teapot?

In a blog post on the announcement, Google says the new privacy policy will be rolled out in March (the new version is online already), but the company wanted to give users a heads up well in advance because “this stuff matters” (and probably also because both Google and Facebook have had their hands slapped by the Federal Trade Commission and other authorities over privacy). The company notes it currently has more than 70 different privacy policies that govern its various services, from YouTube to Gmail to Blogger.

This makes it sound as though Google is tidying up a messy room, and the company clearly wants users to see it as a benevolent gesture. That may be how Google sees its personalized search, but others see it as a fundamental breach of Google’s core search mission, since competitors like Twitter and Facebook argue it favors Google’s own social network over others

Get the full story at GigaOM

Visit our sponsors: