Google's contentious new privacy policy officially takes effect today, despite some objections from Canada's privacy commissioner and others around the world.
Google insists it had users in mind when it consolidated the privacy policies for most of its more than 70 products and streamlined the text.
The main concern being raised by most critics is how Google will now start saving user information collected from all its services in one place. For example, users who log into several different services — such as Google.ca, Gmail and YouTube — will have data about all their searches and clicks stored together.
Alma Whitten, Google's director of privacy, product and engineering, in a blog post to users said.
"Our new privacy policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services. In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
Users can stop this data consolidation from happening by staying logged out when using the search engine or YouTube, or by having separate logins for each different site.
In a letter to Google, Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart said the search giant's efforts to created a more user-friendly privacy policy was "a step in the right direction." But she raised several concerns. For one, she said users aren't being told enough about how to effectively opt out of Google's new plan.
She wrote.
"We would strongly encourage you to make it clearer to users that if they are uncomfortable with these new uses of information, they can create separate accounts. This is not clearly stated in your new policy."
"As we understand it, the policy changes do not mean that Google is collecting more information about its users than it currently does. They do, however, mean that you are going to be using the information in new ways — ways that may make some users uncomfortable."
She also said the new privacy policy isn't clear about how long it will take for personal information to be deleted when requested by a user.
Google is also facing heat in Europe over the new privacy policy, which France's privacy regulator said is a violation of the European Union's data protection rules.
A letter to Google from the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes (CNIL) reads.
"Our preliminary analysis shows that Google's new policy does not meet the requirements of the European Directive on Data Protection. The CNIL and the EU data protection authorities are deeply concerned about the combination of data across services and have strong doubts about the lawfulness and fairness of such processing."
CBC's Ron Charles looks at the upcoming changes to Google's privacy policy. Some users are concerned about their internet use being tracked by the tech giant.
"Don't Be Evil," Google's unofficial corporate motto was originally adopted as a company-wide belief as well as a jab to its competitors. However, Google has come a long way since it was incorporated in 1998, and that has some users wondering if the company's philosophy has changed. BackgroundCheck.org asks, "Mother Can I Trust Google?" in the following infographic:
Click Image To Enlarge
COMMENTARY: Google, Twitter and Facebook have been the subject of investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for numerous privacy violations.
In a blog post dated March 31, 2012, I reported that Google and Twitter had both been placed on 20-year probation, and must undergo annual privacy audits.
In the press release about the FTC settlements with both Google and Twitter, it states:
"A consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the respondent that the law has been violated. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $16,000".
If the FTC had imposed that $16,000 per violation penalty, it would've been sufficient to put both Google and Twitter out-of-business. However, the feds would never impose a penalty that serious because it is not in their best interests. The Feds depend on and carefully monitor the activities of users on social networks and other sites to compile and track down criminals and terrorists. Attorney's also use social sites to gather evidence they can use in lawsuits and divorce cases. What a racket.
In a blog post dated November 30, 2011, I reported that Facebook had settled with the FTC for numerous privacy violations going back into 2010. Like Google and Twitter, the FTC placed Facebook on 20-year probation, and must undergo annual privacy audits.
Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a lengthy post on the company's official blog on Tuesday.
"I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes."
He said a few "high-profile" mistakes, such as changes to the service's privacy policy two years ago, "have often overshadowed much of the good work we've done."
To ensure that Facebook did a better job, Zuckerberg said the company had created two new corporate privacy officer positions to oversee Facebook products and policy.
In its complaint, the FTC said that Facebook had repeatedly violated laws against deceptive and unfair practices. For example, it said Facebook promised users that it would not share personal information with advertisers, but it did.
Also, the company had failed to warn users that it was changing its website in December 2009 so that certain information that users had designated as private, such as their "Friends List," would be made public, the FTC said.
Facebook's Timeline feature, which it rolled out for all users on February 29, 2012, has been a subject of much controversy because of the huge potential for even more privacy violations. Also, only about 10% of Facebook users actually like Timeline.
The new Timeline feature makes everything a person has ever done on Facebook appear on a single screen that scrolls down year by year right back to when the person was born.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Timeline as letting you "tell the whole story of your life on a single page".
However, as Timeline makes all of a user's photographs and wall posts visible to friends, critics have warned the mandatory change could erode users' privacy.
There are also concerns that this will instantly make it easier for identity thieves and stalkers to profile individuals.
However, a spokeswoman for the site said the change would not alter existing privacy settings.
As you can readily see, user privacy is a huge concern, and the FTC has come down hard on both Google, Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn maybe the subject of sanctions as well over ads using pictures of users without their permission.
It should be obvious by now that Google broke from its motto of "Don't Be Evil," and that controversy over privacy continues to haunt it like flies over a picnic table. If we are to hold Google accountable, then we must do the same for all the major social networks, who have violated our privacy and continue to do so to this date.
Courtesy of an article dated April 18, 2012 appearing in BackgroundCheck.org and an article dated March 15, 2012 appearing in Socialphy
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