Tech | February 05, 2012 | 27 comments

Google Data Merge a Major Privacy Threat

source: http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=18449

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Google’s new plan to link user data across its email, video, social-networking sites has come under fire from critics who say it’s an invasion of privacy because of the sheer volume of information collected and the inability of users to opt out.

Under the plan, information collected about individuals will be integrated across 60 Google products including Gmail, YouTube and web search. Users will have to agree to a new privacy policy that will encompass data including location measurements collected on mobile devices.

The result is that Google will soon know more about who users are and what they do on the web, allowing it to target search results and advertising. Users will not be allowed to opt out of the changes, which take effect March 1.

However, the changes have provoked an outcry from critics who say Google is abusing its dominance in internet search to drive more traffic to its own services.

"Privacy advocates say Google’s changes betray users who are not accustomed to having their information shared across different websites," wrote Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post. "A user of Gmail, for instance, may send messages about a private meeting with a colleague and may not want the location of that meeting to be thrown into Google’s massive cauldron of data or used for Google’s maps application."...

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http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=18449
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