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How Much Does Google Know About You?

by Terrence O'Brien on May 13, 2009 at 10:51 AM

How Much Does Google Really Know About You?
It's no secret that, by now, Google has collected an absolutely absurd amount of information about you. Google knows what you search for, what Web sites you visit (Chrome), which pictures you post (Picasa), the contents of your e-mail (Gmail), who you call (Google Voice), what you watch (YouTube), what you write (Blogger), what pills you take (Google Health), where you are (Google Latitude), where you'll be (Google Calendar), and even has your spreadsheets (Google Docs).

Now, technically, Google doesn't actually "know" anything about you. The company has a complex series of privacy policies (which vary between services) and it promises to never share that information with any third party. Still, that doesn't mean that privacy advocates are sleeping easy.



There are tricks to limiting the amount of information Google can collect about you, but regardless, it has build one of the largest databases of personal information in the world.

Of course, it all comes down to trust. It seems that consumers trust Google with their private data, but rest assured that there are people keeping an eye on the search giant to make sure it doesn't overstep its bounds.

Check out the read link for the rather lengthy article from Computer World detailing 'What Google Knows About You.' [From: Computer World]

Tags: chrome, gmail, google, google calendar, google docs, google health, google latitude, google voice, GoogleCalendar, GoogleDocs, GoogleHealth, GoogleLatitude, GoogleVoice, picasa, privacy, top, youtube

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