Home | Internet | Internet Tools & Resources

How much information does Google store about me?

By: Gregg Housh

Read More About Internet Tools & Resources

There can be no question about the impact of Google on the whole way we interact with the internet. Beginning with a simple yet powerful search engine, Google has grown through development and purchase of other tech companies into the biggest technological conglomerate since Microsoft. It's no coincidence that "to google" has come to mean "to perform an online search" in common speech. The majority of services provided by Google are broadly recognized as being at the forefront of their respective fields, whether it's video sharing through YouTube or the resource-laden email experience through Gmail. This is in part because of the enormous amount of data Google collects and shares across its different products.

Any large corporation is bound to face criticism -- some of it deservedly -- and Google is no exception. While Microsoft's products are widely lambasted for poor quality control in certain circles, it's Google's attitude towards information gathering that has some groups concerned. Google makes no secret of the information that it gathers, but it can be difficult for some users to understand what they are agreeing to when they allow Google to store data about their activities online.

To help make the whole process more transparent, Google has unveiled another product in its vast empire: Google Dashboard. Dashboard is a helpful tracker that sums up the information Google has collected about your profile in one place. It includes everything from the latest search you performed to the number of emails sitting in your Gmail account at the moment. While this is a huge amount of information, there are a couple important things to remember. The first is that Google only has access to information about what you do while using their services and while you're logged in to your account. For example, Google will have data about which YouTube videos you have favorited, but not the ones you have "liked" through Vimeo. Similarly, if you have both a Gmail and an AOL email address, Google will only have information about the Gmail account.

To view your Google Dashboard, visit http://google.com/dashboard. You'll need to re-enter your password even if you're already signed in to your Google account. Once there, you can see the information stored with your account. You will also see links next to every section about privacy policy and how to change your privacy settings. You can also delete information Google has already gathered about your account.

The sheer amount of data Google stores is staggering, but it's important to remember that much of this data is only ever shared in the form of aggregated, non-personal information. That is, Google doesn't tell third party advertizers that any one specific user searched for "droid phone reviews" but rather the overall trend of users searching for that term in a geographic area or timeframe. Similarly, Google does not share the contents of your emails or chats. You can read all of the Google privacy policy at http://www.google.com/intl/en/privacypolicy.html.

The safety of your system and data has always been our first priority. While we believe that you should be aware of the information that you should be aware of what data you are sharing with others, we in no way want to give the impression that you should cease using Google or Google products. Dashboard is a useful tool to analyze and manage the information you are sharing with Google, and it's another way the company is attempting to honor their responsibility to protect their users privacy. If you need help understanding Google's Dashboard or privacy policy and what it means to you, or if you have other concerns about online security feel free to give us a call at 1-800-GEEK-HELP (433-5435).

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Gregg Housh holds the position of Technician Manager at Geek Choice. At Geek Choice we solve computer problems such as: Slow computer, Virus Removal, Spyware Removal, Computer startup problems, Printer not printing, Not connecting to the Internet, Scanner not working, or the "blue screen of death".

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Internet Tools & Resources Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Internet | Internet Tools & Resources
Sign Up for a free account.
Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum
Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap
New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

counter easy hit

Powered by Article Dashboard