Google is coming under increasing scrutiny over the way it collects data and deals with users’ personal data. They use this information to help them sell targeted advertising and while a number of tools, both free and commercial, are on offer, more and more people are pursuing court cases because they believe this to be the only course of action that is left open to them. However, the collection of such data is arguably worth billions to Google so it seems unlikely that they will stop any time soon.
Internet Security
Internet security and online privacy have really hit the news in the past couple of years, not least for the likes of Facebook and Google. These are two of the largest companies in the world, and certainly the two largest entities on the web. They also make their money from advertising, which means that they have operated on a fine line barely within the law.
Google Under Fire
Google has come under fire for the new privacy terms and conditions that it has released. All Google registered services will have a single, unified set of terms and conditions which means that data collected using one Google service will be combined with data collected from other Google services. This not only means a unified privacy policy but it means a considerably more rounded view of each user, with access to a variety of information from searching habits to video viewing habits even email information.
The Safari Problem
Most recently, though, Google has come under pressure from US lawmakers for bypassing default privacy settings that are found in the Safari web browser. They intentionally installed code that fools the browser into sharing information with them about a user’s search habits, although that user does have to be logged in to Google for the information to be taken.
Google Revenues
Google may be best and first known for its search engine product, but this free service is not where the company makes its money. Revenue is derived from display advertising and targeted advertising, and user information helps Google to be the most effective and efficient ad network around.
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