Google 'Updates' Privacy Policy - Goodbye Google for some?

[Daveski17]

Originally Posted by Dermot7

One of the things that really got on my nerves about Google, I think it was a couple of years ago, was when Eric Schmidt said something to the effect that people shouldn't be worried about privacy if they had nothing to hide, or weren't doing anything wrong.

Yes, I agree with you, that's another tired old trope also often repeated by security services & governments. I don't consider myself as a criminal, but I have plenty of things I would like to hide for perfectly legitimate security reasons.

No doubt a Google tracking satellite is homing in on me as I write these very wor .....

[vasa1]

Originally Posted by Daveski17

Yes, I also don't understand why people will doggedly defend these companies if you even hint at criticising them....

Ooops! I didn't realise that people should not have differing opinions.

[Cudni]

ot posts removed

[Dermot7]

Google has been asked to suspend changes to its privacy policy by a group of EU data protection regulators.

In a letter to the search giant, the EU group called for a "pause" so it could complete its analysis of the change.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16870465

[Dermot7]

EPIC, in briefs filed Wednesday, asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to require the FTC to enforce a 2011 privacy agreement between the agency and Google over the company's fumbled rollout of its Buzz social networking service.

Google's January announcement that it would consolidate user data over 60 of its services is a "clear violation" of that privacy agreement, EPIC said in court papers. Google has announced it will roll out the changes to its terms of service on March 1.

https://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...?taxonomyId=17

[x942]

IMO, Google is not the bad. I mean yes privacy is important and I for one use other services when needed. How ever I am willing to compromise for things like gmail. I have not found another free service that good, and anything close to it has a similar policy.

Google get's a lot of flac (and they should) for privacy, but why doesn't bing or yahoo? They have policies just as bad. And we know that MS has been in bed with the NSA for years.

It's simple: You don't like the policy use something else.

Google does do some things very well. I would never expect a free product to not have privacy concerns. Hence why I don't use google for private matters. If I am searching something I want private I use DDG, If I am sending a private e-mail I use my own server w/PGP.

I for one would trust google more than MS with my data. Everything comes with a price. Googles price is information.

That said, I don't like the new policies either I just don't think they are Evil for trying to make money, and of course they will say things like "if you have nothing to hide, there shouldn't be any issues' it's marketing.

[MrBrian]

No, You Don’t Need To Fear The Google Privacy Changes: A Reality Check

[Dermot7]

[UPDATE 2/22/2012] It is important to note that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information and using it for internal purposes. More information at the end of this post.

On March 1st, Google will implement its new, unified privacy policy, which will affect data Google has collected on you prior to March 1st as well as data it collects on you in the future. Until now, your Google Web History (your Google searches and sites visited) was cordoned off from Google's other products. This protection was especially important because search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more. If you want to keep Google from combining your Web History with the data they have gathered about you in their other products, such as YouTube or Google Plus, you may want to remove all items from your Web History and stop your Web History from being recorded in the future.

"How to Remove Your Google Search History Before Google's New Privacy Policy Takes Effect" : https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/0...y-takes-effect

[lotuseclat79]

Cookies and Privacy.

-- Tom

[Dermot7]

Google's new privacy policy may violate the European Union's data protection laws, according to the French data regulator.

"The CNIL and the EU data protection authorities regret that Google did not accept to delay the application of this new policy which raises legitimate concerns about the protection of the personal data of European citizens," it said.

The French regulator added it was "deeply concerned about the combination of data across services and will continue their investigations with Google's representatives".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17192234

[Fly]

There has been a lot of talk about Google accounts and Gmail.

What if you don't use any Google service, except their search engine ?
If you don't have an account, you cannot remove or disable the search history ?

Honestly I cannot be bothered to study the new policies since it seems I cannot actually change anything.
But I'm curious if there are any real meaningful changes that apply to people like me.

[Dermot7]

(Reuters) - France's data protection watchdog has given internet search group Google Inc three weeks to answer questions about its new privacy policy, as part of a Europe-wide investigation being led by the French regulator.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...82J0D920120320

[Dermot7]

Earlier this month we led calls for Google to halt implementation of it’s new privacy policy after highlighting how 9 in 10 people had not even read the policy.

http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/ho...cy-policy.html

If a team of lawyers working for several weeks still can’t make sense of what the policy means, what hope do the rest of us have?!

[Dermot7]

France's data protection watchdog has set up a meeting with Google to closely examine its controversial privacy policy.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18102789

http://www.duckduckgo.com