Google announced in a blog post on Tuesday 24th of January 2012 that they are going to be implementing a new privacy policy that allows the search engine giants’ products to ‘track’ their users moves on the internet. Their reasoning for this is an attempt to better serve each user’s needs by building a profile on each individual and understanding their interests and where they spend the most time online.

Most people wouldn’t already know this, but Google has already been collecting this information for quite some time. Ever sent an email from your Gmail account to order a cake for that birthday party you’re planning? All of a sudden you notice that little message at the top of your page advertising a cake baking place? That’s Google understanding what gets you ticking in order to target those adverts towards you.

The difference now, is that the emails you are sending from your Gmail account for instance, won’t only affect the advertisements you see when you are in your Gmail account, it will also affect the videos you see on YouTube, the search results you receive when you use the Google search engine and so forth across the Google products.

This is where all the controversy over the issue has come into play. Utilising a certain amount of information for intelligent advertising is one thing. Creating a full portrait of a user through either personal or business emails they send or tracking which websites they view, is seen by some as a little bit more intrusive. The worst part is that, it’s a ‘take it or leave it’ option. Google users have no choice to opt out, the only way to make sure that you are not part and parcel of the new privacy policy is to cancel your accounts and no longer utilise any of the Google products. It’s important to note that users who have not signed up for or logged into any of the Google services such as YouTube and Gmail will not be affected by this new privacy policy.

In a poll conducted on The Washington Post on the 24th of January 2012 asking users if they will cancel their Google accounts due to the search engine giants’ new privacy policy, 65% of respondents voted ‘yes’ that they would cancel their accounts. On the 31st of January 2012, over 17 500 people had responded to the poll, with only 16% of respondents confidently stating that they would not cancel their accounts, and a mere 20% were unsure.

There are many major companies up in arms over the new policy, whilst others welcome the move towards having relevant content pertinent to them. According to an article posted on the Washington Post, Google stated that, “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.” [1]

The debate will continue, but as for now, Google is set to implement these policies on the 1st of March 2012. Which party are you in? Will you abandon Google and their new policies… or will you be dusting it off your shoulder and go with the flow?

To read the new Google privacy Policy, click here