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YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Whether You Like It or Not, Google Will Track Your Email

    Whether You Like It or Not, Google Will Track Your Email

    As tech bloggers gawked at Apple's record high earnings report, Google quietly announced that some changes to its privacy policy would kick into effect on March 1 and users will not be able to opt out. "Google said Tuesday it will require users to allow the company to follow their activities across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a radical shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices," explained The Washington Post's Cecilia Kang, who took note of Google's recent less-than-stellar earnings report as well as the privacy complaint the company recently settled with the Federal Trade Commission. "The information will enable Google to develop a fuller picture of how people use its growing empire of Web tools. Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes." The new policy will also apply to Android users.

    RELATED: Google's New Privacy Policy Doesn't Fly In Europe


    This comes at a time when Mark Zuckerberg is speaking out in the name of privacy control, making it Facebook's top priority. (The Silicon Valley Gods must be crazy!) That said, it will take some deep data-digging to find out exactly how closely Google will be tracking your email, search and YouTubing habits, though the recent Carrier IQ controversy doesn't bode well for Google's lack of an opt-out option. But at least you can use a fake name on Google+, now.

     

    64 comments

    • Tyler  •  Denver, Colorado  •  4 mths ago
      so cancel facebook account... check.

      cancel Gmail account... check

      make a new email somewhere else... where to go?
      • Danny 4 mths ago
        hotmail / yahoo and eeuh .... private server :D
    • Dustin P  •  Cleveland, Ohio  •  4 mths ago
      " First they came for the communists,
      and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

      Then they came for the trade unionists,
      and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

      Then they came for the Jews,
      and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.

      Then they came for the Catholics,
      and I didn't speak out because I was Protestant.

      Then they came for me
      and there was no one left to speak out for me."
      By Martin Niemöller

      See any comparison? Little by little the merchants and government are stealing our liberties. Each time most of us sit idly by saying nothing. Soon enough it will be you, but no one will be left to speak up for you.
      • Jose 4 mths ago
        Getting the commie out of the white house is a necessary first step.
    • Baron of Contempt  •  4 mths ago
      Goodbye Google----I will not miss you.
    • Karmalious  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      another #$%$ article about my internet usage being tracked. After reading the facebook info earlier today I just cancelled my account( even though true it wont really be deleted ), and now I find out that google will start tracking also... I guess ill stop using my gmail acct that i dont really use anyways. Im in agreement with the other users, it might be time to make YAHOO or an alternative search engine my first choice.
      • Display name* 4 mths ago
        Yahoo uses Google for their search engine nowadays, they switched to Google a few months or so ago. There was a few articles about this before, during, and after the transition.
    • Robert  •  Austin, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      I just changed my homepage to Yahoo.
      • BWT 4 mths ago
        Yahoo may end up being bought by the Chinese-based Alibaba corporation. So would you rather have your personal secrets owned by an American company or Chinese?!?
      • Eddie 4 mths ago
        The Chinese.
    • Annon  •  4 mths ago
      so OPT OUT of google mail ALTOGETHER
    • Ed T  •  4 mths ago
      Better stop them now ... boycot their services ... or all your privacy will be gone. It isn't science-fiction ... google is big brother. What they do with the information ?? .. They sell it in a variety of formats. They take your intellectual property (your email, social network info, search info, etc.), manipulate it and sell it.
    • William S  •  Las Vegas, Nevada  •  4 mths ago
      I'll stick with Hotmail, screw Google!
    • Bright Bart's Ghost  •  4 mths ago
      They author got it wrong. There is a way to keep Google from spying. Just stop using their mail and search products. Seems simple enough. I gave up my Droid Incredible (for an iPhone 4) several months ago for this very reason.
    • Sars  •  Manila, Philippines  •  4 mths ago
      holy SH**... this is freaking me out! does anybody nowadays know the meaning of the word "privacy"??? or are they just caught in the hype that SOPA / PIPA started? whatever happened to the word "freedom"... please don't screw my internet further.. its already screwed with crappy providers.
    • uh yeah  •  4 mths ago
      what is Yahoo's policy?
    • Bugs Bunny  •  4 mths ago
      use google - fake name - still can track the IP addy on your modem.
      So much for expectation of privacy. !!!!!!
    • It Is What It Is  •  4 mths ago
      Bye Bye Google email! Hello Yahoo.....for now!
    • Joe Cool  •  Centro, Mexico  •  4 mths ago
      Let's do what happened to B of A. Threaten to cancel our Google accounts! Take back our lives.
      • SL 4 mths ago
        Threaten to cancel...??? you are slowed... I already have canceled mine... and I will stop using google for searches...
    • Katie  •  Los Angeles, California  •  4 mths ago
      This is why I only use Yahoo for email and Bing for searches. I deleted my Google and Youtube accounts and am seriously considering deleting my Facebook account now.
    • X RIDER  •  4 mths ago
      Someone is going to open up an ISP that tracks nothing and steel the market from every other ISP and search provider wait and see.
    • X RIDER  •  4 mths ago
      I will now use bing!
    • Matt  •  Austin, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      I guess this leaves Hotmail, Twitter and Yahoo(?). Facebook knows everything about you and Google wants to know everything about you.
    • SL  •  4 mths ago
      one thing I can say for certain, in light of this new "privacy" policy, I'm going to stop using google as my primary search engine... I use it because it was supposedly the best, but I think it's more of a habit now... I'm sure I can get used to other search engines...

      google fought china for privacy issue and yet, it is essentially following china's footstep in collecting more information from its users... shame on google... if I want my search results to be tracked, I might as well use baidu... the chinese are better at it anyway...
    • M  •  Dallas, Texas  •  4 mths ago
      well im cancelling everything google is involved in I dont need big brother in any form.
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