Earlier this week, Google announced that the company would combine individual privacy policies from a variety of its products into one main policy. The idea behind it was to provide users with a “more intuitive Google experience.” Critics of the change are worried that Google is now collecting more data than ever, however, leading members of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee to demand answers. Read on for more.
The search giant claims that it is not collecting more data and the new terms merely clarify how existing data is used to improve the Google experience. “We’re making things simpler and we’re trying to be upfront about it. Period,” said Google’s policy manager Betsy Masiello in a blog post. “You still have choice and control. You don’t need to log in to use many of our services, including Search, Maps and YouTube.”
Users will also have access to privacy controls, with the ability to customize options for search history, Gmail, and other services. “You can use as much or as little of Google as you want. For example, you can have a Google Account and choose to use Gmail, but not use Google+,” Masiello added. “Or you could keep your data separate with different accounts — for example, one for YouTube and another for Gmail.”
