Whether it is Gmail, Google Base, Google Video, Google Answers, Froogle, Google Blog Search, Google Book Search, Google Maps and Google Toolbar, Google seems to be conquering the world by offering a lot of services in different and diverse areas.
(You can get a good review of the various Google Services here)
With your Google Account (which is also your Gmail email), Google can also track a person specifically and learn things about what him/her, what he/she searched for, shoped, interest in, etc.
Actually, according to this, Google also learns a lot about you even without having a Google Account.
The main problem with Google is that they are not actually showing the users what they are doing with this information.
Yes, they have privacy policy. Yes they claim they are “not evil“, and to some degree I believe them, but I really want to know what is being done with the information being gather on me.
Let me take Amazon as an example. When I buy things at Amazon they save it in their database. They also encourage me to fill in a wish list or even mark products that I already own so they will be able to offer me products that I’m interested in.
In addition to that, when they recommend something to me they always tell me why this product was offered to me and I can directly see and understand what they did with the information they gather about me and the information I have supplied them.
- * *Google will soon hit the privacy wall hard and as more sites of the “
forbidden word” will start gathering more and more information about people and their doings, I think its time for Google and the rest of the world to start actually showing to people what is being done with this information.
A good start would be like Amazon is doing by telling you why things have been recommended.