Google To Start Tracking Users Across Services

Martin Brinkmann
Jan 25, 2012
Updated • Jan 28, 2012
Google
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An announcement was posted yesterday on the official Google blog that indicates that changes are being made to Google's privacy policies and terms of service. What first looks like a reasonable thing to do is in fact something that will keep privacy advocates up at night. Google will merge their privacy policies, of which about 60 are now available, into one main privacy policy. This on first glance is good from a user perspective, as it improves the privacy policy's accessibility.

Google furthermore has created a main Google Terms of Service file that covers many of their products. This too improves accessibility.

The following paragraphs outlines how Google thinks users will profit from the change

What does this mean in practice? The main change is for users with Google Accounts. 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.

Our recently launched personal search feature is a good example of the cool things Google can do when we combine information across products. Our search box now gives you great answers not just from the web, but your personal stuff too. So if I search for restaurants in Munich, I might see Google+ posts or photos that people have shared with me, or that are in my albums. Today we can also do things like make it easy for you to read a memo from Google Docs right in your Gmail, or add someone from your Gmail contacts to a meeting in Google Calendar.

But there’s so much more that Google can do to help you by sharing more of your information with … well, you. We can make search better—figuring out what you really mean when you type in Apple, Jaguar or Pink. We can provide more relevant ads too. For example, it’s January, but maybe you’re not a gym person, so fitness ads aren’t that useful to you. We can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day. Or ensure that our spelling suggestions, even for your friends’ names, are accurate because you’ve typed them before. People still have to do way too much heavy lifting, and we want to do a better job of helping them out.

The first thing that you will notice is that Google will share activity information between services come March 1 when the new policies go live. This has an impact on two areas:

  • Personalization: Up until now only a handful services shared information with each other, Google+ data was for instance used for a personalized search experience. Now all data may be used for that experience.
  • Advertisement: The more Google knows about you, the higher paying ads they can get to be displayed to you.

We already know that Google is reading your emails to serve ads on Gmail. Gmail users who are using other Google services may now see tailored ads pop up on other services as well, or YouTube videos recommended to them based on the emails they read.

It could also link things they do on their phone to searches they make on a desktop PC, or display ads for a popular coffee chain on their phone if Google has picked up that you like to drink coffee in the morning and notice that you are currently on the go with your phone.

Google could use location based information it collects from the Android phone to display ads to you on all other Google services that share the new privacy policy. You went to a clothing store for big people? Then you may see "lose weight" videos on YouTube, or ads on Google search.

Like to visit sex clubs? How about ads for related items on your desktop?

As Owen Williams points out over at Neowin, this could also have business and job related consequences. If you have an Android business phone that you use with an enterprise account, then other users with access to that account may see what you have been up to lately.

What you view at home, while accidentally being logged into your Enterprise Google Apps account could mean you have an awkward conversation with your boss.

There is no opting-out

No opt-out is offered by Google. Users who want to keep their account data separated only have two options: Create a separate Google account for each service they use, or cancel their Google account and move on to another service provider.

It is unlikely that many users will actually close their account as a consequence. Depending on which Google services are used, it could mean lots of work. And lets not forget that you'd need to research the new service's privacy policies and terms of service as well.

Mitigation may be possible, if users log out of Google whenever possible. This could reduce the number of personalized ads and recommendations that they will see on Google product pages.

Update: Here is the email that Google is sending to all of its users:

Dear Google user,

We're getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that's a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

We believe this stuff matters, so please take a few minutes to read our updated Privacy Policy and Terms of Service at http://www.google.com/policies. These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.

One policy, one Google experience Easy to work across Google Tailored for you Easy to share and collaborate Easy to work across Google

Our new policy reflects a single product experience that does what you need, when you want it to. Whether you're reading an email that reminds you to schedule a family get-together or finding a favorite video that you want to share, we want to ensure you can move across Gmail, Calendar, Search, YouTube, or whatever your life calls for with ease.

Tailored for you

If you're signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries – or tailor your search results – based on the interests you've expressed in Google+, Gmail, and YouTube. We'll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you're searching for and get you those results faster.

Easy to share and collaborate

When you post or create a document online, you often want others to see and contribute. By remembering the contact information of the people you want to share with, we make it easy for you to share in any Google product or service with minimal clicks and errors.
Protecting your privacy hasn't changed

Our goal is to provide you with as much transparency and choice as possible, through products like Google Dashboard and Ads Preferences Manager, alongside other tools. Our privacy principles remain unchanged. And we'll never sell your personal information or share it without your permission (other than rare circumstances like valid legal requests).

Got questions? We've got answers.

Visit our FAQ at http://www.google.com/policies/faq to read more about the changes. (We figured our users might have a question or twenty-two.)

Notice of Change

March 1, 2012 is when the new Privacy Policy and Terms will come into effect. If you choose to keep using Google once the change occurs, you will be doing so under the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.

Please do not reply to this email. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. Also, never enter your Google Account password after following a link in an email or chat to an untrusted site. Instead, go directly to the site, such as mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

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Comments

  1. VioletMoon said on August 16, 2023 at 5:33 pm
    Reply

    “Do you use Google Photos?”

    I do; I find it impossible not to use Google Photos on the Android phone; nevertheless, the “memory” feature is sort of neat. I’ve seen photos from a couple of years ago that that offer glimpses into the long-ago, forgotten past. It’s a lot like reviewing journal writing. “What was I doing and such and such a date?”

    And, I think, when the “memories” are sorted and positioned, one can create a mini-collage with up to eight photos.

    It’s so much easier to share photos with people rather than journal entries.

    Nifty!

  2. John G. said on August 16, 2023 at 8:57 pm
    Reply

    I delete the photos after 1 month of being taken. All of them are erased to return to the black and silent nothingness. Only the best ones are printed and placed in a very nice site at home. :]

    1. Anonymous said on September 15, 2023 at 10:33 am
      Reply

      I should buy a Chromebook.
      None of the big tech companies are good but at least Google are the least dishonest and morally bankrupt of them. They’re always trying to do the right thing if the money allow it.

  3. Tachy said on August 19, 2023 at 5:15 pm
    Reply

    In reply to “https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/19/google-keep-is-getting-a-version-history-but-only-on-the-web/” since the website has gone insane and no one can know where thier comment ends up.

    This app should be called “Google Keeps it”. Because, they do.

    I use Color Notes. No syncing, no internet, just local.

  4. said on August 22, 2023 at 3:19 pm
    Reply

    The article said: “[…] positive outcomes of genocide…”. Perhaps the AI was actually discussing the benefits of reading a “Scroll of genocide” … “You feel dead inside.”.

    Martin, this post reply is supposed to belong: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/22/googles-ai-search-generates-horribly-misleading-answers/] (given the the database is faulty it could appear anywhere or nowhere).

  5. John said on August 22, 2023 at 3:46 pm
    Reply

    I have yet to be impressed with AI of any kind. I think it’s overhyped and not ready to live up to it.

  6. Seeprime said on August 22, 2023 at 8:36 pm
    Reply

    How to use AI: Avoid the artificial stupidity at all times.

  7. Richard Steven Hack said on August 23, 2023 at 3:54 am
    Reply

    “When searched “Why guns are good,” it also prompted questionable responses, including potentially questionable statistics and reasoning. ”

    Based on whose reasoning? These sorts of assertions are generally bullcrap intended to advance an agenda. If you don’t like guns, say so. Meanwhile, there are 400 million firearms in the US owned by close to a third of the population and around 20 million carry concealed.

    So your opinion is not shared by a LOT of people who either enjoy firearm spots or are concerned about self-defense or both.

    1. Seeprime said on August 31, 2023 at 10:07 pm
      Reply

      Wow. Ghacks still hasn’t fixed the broken comments system where old comments from a different article appear. Sad to see you slowly turn to dust since the buyout.

      1. owl said on September 1, 2023 at 3:40 am
        Reply

        @Seeprime,

        For over two weeks now,
        I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
        https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
        https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
        For the time being,
        it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.

      2. Kirk said on September 19, 2023 at 3:08 pm
        Reply

        This guns comment came up in the Pixel watch repair post and I was bewildered as to what was the connection between the two.

  8. gogo said on August 23, 2023 at 5:12 am
    Reply

    goog = skynet
    “human beings” = \slaves\

  9. no said on August 23, 2023 at 3:51 pm
    Reply

    This info is so NOT correct.
    I so do not want google in my life that I have NEVER downloaded chrome and I do NOT have ANY google accounts.
    My browser is set to clear all cookies, cache and history every time I close it, which is every day, and I still get these world takeover login prompts on every site I go to.
    So I CANT go to google accounts and turn it off.
    If this info were truly accurate I wouldnt be getting these pop ups AT ALL.

  10. John G. said on August 31, 2023 at 3:49 pm
    Reply

    Thanks @Ashwin for the article! :]

  11. Scroogled said on September 1, 2023 at 11:31 pm
    Reply

    Anyone who continues to use these big tech scum’s cloud services deserves what they get.

  12. Tom Hawack said on September 4, 2023 at 2:44 pm
    Reply

    Given Ghacks’ comments’ database problems I precise :
    I’m commenting the article “Google is in trouble with YouTube Shorts – gHacks Tech News” by Emre Çitak
    at [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/googles-youtube-shorts-problem/]

    About the article’s question, “What do you think about YouTube Shorts?” (BTW first time I read here any other writer other than Martin Brinkmann directly asks the audience it’s opinion, and that’s just fine) :

    YouTube Shorts may suit smartphones (which I don’t use) but on a PC they are not my cup of tea, to put it mildly.
    From what I read a bit everywhere, opinions are shared : love or hate. For those who dislike many scripts and dedicated browser extensions have been developed to handle them (removal or redirect to standard video display).

    I don’ view YouTube videos on YouTube but via a Piped or a Piped-Material YouTube front-end instance and these offer on search results and on channels the option to view Videos-Shorts-Livestreams-Playlists-Channels ; well, I practically never open the ‘Shorts’ display. I don’t like shorts (except in summer, hmm), I dislike the concept, fast-videos after fast-food, fast, faster … to bring what? Emptiness, IMO

    Does that answer your question, @Emre Çitak :)

  13. ECJ said on September 4, 2023 at 3:17 pm
    Reply

    I despise YouTube Shorts. So much in fact, I use custom adblock rules in Brave Shields to remove that crap.

    youtube.com##ytd-grid-video-renderer:has([href*=”shorts”])
    youtube.com###dismissible:has([href*=”shorts”])

    1. Anonymous said on September 5, 2023 at 6:28 am
      Reply

      There’s an extension for Firefox and Chrome browsers called “Youtube-shorts block”, re-opens the video in a normal window. :)

      https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-shorts-block/
      https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-block/jiaopdjbehhjgokpphdfgmapkobbnmjp

      ps. say NO to Shorts, it only encourage shooting vertical-videos which doesn’t go well with many desktop displays… except when shooting vertical objects, such as ahem… pretty ladies. :)

  14. RG said on September 4, 2023 at 5:02 pm
    Reply

    Page source shows that ghacks is still using WordPress as the platform. Knowing, more or less, how it works at the DB level I am not sure how one could mess up comments this badly. It is actually very difficult.

  15. John G. said on September 4, 2023 at 6:14 pm
    Reply

    Google is the big leader of everything. Indeed it can actually buy Amazon, Disney, Netflix, X and whatever other company. I wonder what could happen if Google starts to build airspace ships in order to conquer the Moon. I bet that Google would be the first to offer free WiFi at the Moon. Please fix the comments.

    This comment is inside the article:
    [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/what-is-google-synthid-and-how-does-it-work/]

  16. DC said on September 11, 2023 at 10:52 am
    Reply

    This “analysis” is disappointingly shallow and trivial. Why not include other factors like job level, responsibilities, full-time/part-time, qualifications, etc.? Because the conclusions probably wouldn’t fit the current leftist/feminist narrative. You don’t find what you don’t look for.

  17. said on September 11, 2023 at 11:42 am
    Reply

    Misleading statistics.

  18. Kris said on September 12, 2023 at 9:10 pm
    Reply

    Wage should be based on the amount of time, works, thinking (brain > muscle), responsibilities etc

    Not skin pigmentation or your genitalia. There could be correlations, but not causations.

  19. Anonymous said on September 14, 2023 at 4:36 pm
    Reply

    “Google maintains that it provides a superior product”

    That is also Mozilla’s official position in defense of Google against the people, on that question of search engine abuse of dominant position by Google.

    The funniest part is that not only it’s false regarding actual competitors, but even among not-actual-competitors there are meta-search engines that use exactly the same engine, just minus the tracking, so Google is clearly the inferior one compared to those already. But maybe what Google is saying is that it is the surveillance and bubbling that would make their engine superior. False again even without considering the damage those do.

  20. bruh said on September 15, 2023 at 10:17 am
    Reply

    “Google increases Chromebook support to 10 years”

    I mean that’s great and all, but imagine using a browser-based, highly internet-dependent OS such as chrome. I’ve never used chromeOS but have seen it in person and read about it, just seems like ultra-limited user experience which relies on the concept that “most things can be done in a browser”.

  21. Anonymous said on September 15, 2023 at 11:11 pm
    Reply

    What is there to support? It just a glorified web browser.

  22. Anonymous said on September 24, 2023 at 5:18 pm
    Reply

    “Google launched Chromebooks in 2012 as low-cost devices and the company has had great success in the education world, especially in the United States.”

    Happy tracking for all those unsuspecting children. And help normalize surveillance for those young brains. Well done Google.

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