Google Launches “Privacy Dashboard”
It's often said Google knows what we're doing. You search for anything, they know it. You view anything on YouTube, they know it. You use their documents programs, they know that.
Heck, the Onion News Network did a hilarious video on all which Google knows about us, they parodied what happens to those who want 'to opt-out.'
So, to alleviate those fears (or would it be asperate them?), Google launches "Dashboard" today. "Dashboard" pretty much tell you that Google knows a lot about you, your privacy settings, and so on and on.
The more Google products you use, the more data it collects about everything you do online—your search history, your emails, the blogs and news sites you read, which videos you watch on YouTube, your news alerts, tasks ,and even shopping lists. For some of these, you need to explicitly grant Google permission to keep track of data associated with your profile. But it’s hard to keep up with everything Google is tracking.
So now the company is launching a Google Dashboard, which will give you a high-level summary of everything Google knows about you by virtue of the Google products you use. This might include how many emails are in your inbox, recent subject lines, which YouTube video you’ve watched lately (yes, all of them), appointments on your calendar, and more.
If you want more detailed data, it sends you to the particular data repository for that product. And for security purposes it does not create a second database of all the data, it just brings it up in your browser without restoring it server-side.
The Dashboard is only for Google products which require you to sign in with your Google account.
Mashable has posted the Google video on product.
When I think of Google Dashboard, I'm reminded of a conversation I had last Friday after the "New Media Exchange" meeting I had at Americans for Tax Reform in DC where the focus was on "Net Neutrality" and Google's massive lobbying effort of it. (The gist is Google wants to neutralize the Internet infrastructure -- the tubes which deliver everything -- while they then try to take control over the content, search, etc., of the rest of the Web.) One of the members to it brought up a panel Google CEO (and Obama Advisor) Eric Schmidt was part of where Schmidt was asked "How do we [the internet user] know that Google is not reading any message, link search, or anything else I look for or type on the interent?"
Schmidt's answer: "Because we don't."
In human terms, Schmidt is probably right. In technology terms, Schmidt's full of it because the programs will eventually read and process everything. It's just how they were designed.
So until they completely over-run the planet, take pause with Google's Orwellian Corporate Motto: Do No Evil.
Have a Good Day.
