Source: Washington PostCecilia Kang
Google will soon know far more about who you are and what you do on the Web.
The Web giant announced Tuesday that it plans to follow the activities of users across nearly all of its ubiquitous sites, including YouTube, Gmail and its leading search engine.
Google has already been collecting some of this information. But for
the first time, it is combining data across its Web sites to stitch
together a fuller portrait of users.
Consumers won’t be able to
opt out of the changes, which take effect March 1. And experts say the
policy shift will invite greater scrutiny from federal regulators of the company’s privacy and competitive practices.
The move will help Google better tailor its ads to people’s
tastes. If someone watches an NBA clip online and lives in Washington,
the firm could advertise Washington Wizards tickets in that person’s
Gmail account.
Consumers could also benefit, the
company said. When someone is searching for the word “jaguar,” Google
would have a better idea of whether the person was interested in the
animal or the car. Or the firm might suggest e-mailing contacts in New
York when it learns you are planning a trip there.
But consumer
advocates say the new policy might upset people who never expected
their information would be shared across so many different Web sites.
A
user signing up for Gmail, for instance, might never have imagined that
the content of his or her messages could affect the experience on
seemingly unrelated Web sites such as YouTube.
“Google’s new
privacy announcement is frustrating and a little frightening,” said
Common Sense Media chief executive James Steyer. “Even if the company
believes that tracking users across all platforms improves their
services, consumers should still have the option to opt out — especially
the kids and teens who are avid users of YouTube, Gmail and Google
Search.”
Google can collect information about users when they
activate an Android mobile phone, sign into their accounts online or
enter search terms. It can also store cookies on people’s computers to
see which Web sites they visit or use its popular maps program to
estimate their location.
The change to its privacy policies come
as Google is facing stiff competition for the fickle attention of Web
surfers. It recently disappointed investors for the first time in
several quarters, failing last week to meet earnings predictions. Apple, in contrast, reported record earnings Tuesday that blew past even the most optimistic expectations.
Some
analysts said Google’s move is aimed squarely at Apple and Facebook —
which have been successful in building unified ecosystems of products
that capture people’s attention. Google, in contrast, has adopted a more
scattered approach, but an executive said in an interview that the
company wants to create a much more seamless environment across its
various offerings.
“If you’re signed in, we may combine
information you’ve provided from one service with information from other
services,” Alma Whitten, Google’s director of privacy for product and
engineering, wrote in a blog post.
“In
short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which
will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience,” she said.
Google
said it would notify its hundreds of millions of users of the change
through an e-mail and a message on its Web sites. It will apply to all
of its services except for Google Wallet, the Chrome browser and Google
Books.
The company said the change would simplify the company’s privacy policy — a move that regulators encouraged.
Still, some consumer advocates and lawmakers remained skeptical.
“There
is no way anyone expected this,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive
director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group.
“There is no way a user can comprehend the implication of Google
collecting across platforms for information about your health, political
opinions and financial concerns.”
Added Rep. Edward J. Markey
(D-Mass), co-chair of the Congressional Privacy Caucus: “It is
imperative that users will be able to decide whether they want their
information shared across the spectrum of Google’s offerings.”
Google has increasingly been a focus of Washington regulators.
The
company recently settled a privacy complaint by the Federal Trade
Commission after it allowed users of its now-defunct social-networking
tool Google Buzz to see contacts lists from its e-mail program.
And a previous decision to use its social network data in search results has been included in a broad FTC investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is private.
Federal
officials are also looking at whether Google is running afoul of
antitrust rules by using its dominance in online searches to favor its
other business lines.
Claudia Farrell, a spokeswoman for the FTC,
declined to comment on any interaction between Google and regulators on
its new privacy changes.
