Google Updated ToS Will Allow Search Giant to Use All the Data It Collects About You Across Its Services [Google to Chance Terms of Services Starting with March 1, It’s Good & Bad News]

Posted on TFTS by Chris Smith on Tuesday, 24. January 2012 under: Computers & Computing, Internet Highlights, xFeatured

Is it just me or is Google appearing more and more like the bad guy lately, a big corporation that’s driven by greed when it comes to the products it offers its customers? Whether it’s Google Chrome acting against the company’s own terms of services, the introduction of Google+ results in search results of the unfair competition conducted in a certain market, Google makes us rethink that great motto it has, “Don’t be evil!”

And Google has a new challenge for us, which it announced officially earlier today, “some changes to [their] privacy policies and Google Terms of Service.” In short, Google will now use all the data it can collect about you via the Google services you already use, in all the Google applications you will be using. The ultimate goal, Google says, is to offer you better results to your online searches, specifically tailored for you actual interests.

At the same time Google says it will continue to protect your privacy and that it won’t share your data with any third parties. You’ll still be able to export your data, if you want to cancel your Google account, and that’s great, but do we really want to have all our data merged into one big resource that would be available to the search giant at its own discretion?

Is it a bad or a good move from Google? That’s for you to decide. Some of you may like the fact that Google can use a bunch of information it collects about you to offer you better assistance during the day – this includes calendar appointments, maps and other services in addition to search results. Some of you may not like it as you’ll want to enjoy as much anonymity as possible once online. And Google is just about to break that anonymity by tying together all that information it holds about you in one single virtual file.

Whether you like it or not, that will happen as Google will merge its over 70 ToS for different services into a single one starting with March 1. At which point you’ll have to agree with it, or stop using your existing Google account. This announcement comes days after Google modified its Google Account sign-up page to include a mandatory sign up for its Google+ social network. And we’re certainly curious to hear what’s coming next from the Search giant.

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