Almost every Web site has a little link somewhere on the page outlining what their privacy policy is, but how often do you actually read it?
Well, Dan Simon has been through Google's new privacy policy, and he explains why the changes could have big implications.
In the morning I check the headlines on Google News, send some personal e-mail using Google's Gmail. I may check Google Maps for driving directions.
Later at work I remember to do a Google search for plumbers. I also need to do research for this story, more searches.
Later, I'll glance at my Google Calendar for appointments, upload some videos to YouTube
and maybe I'll log on to Google+, the company's growing social network.
And some variation of this happens almost every single day.
Google knows almost everything about you.
That's why privacy watchdogs like Peter Eckersley are sounding the alarm about Google's new privacy policy.
Beginning next month, the company is going to keep track of your activity across all of its sites and build a profile of you.
Google says it will use the information to improve its services, services where, for example, a user is more likely to get better search results.
We'll understand that when you search for "jaguar," you're looking for a Jaguar.
Critics say the company is stomping on privacy to bolster its advertising and, in turn, increase its profits.
If there are things that you want to keep private about your life, those records are all in there.
If there are things that you actually need to prevent other people from knowing about you, those will be in there.
Those already nervous about the company's influence pounced when it became known last week
that Google exploited a known weakness in Apple's Safari browser, bypassing the browser's privacy settings.
When I first found what Google was doing, I thought I had it wrong. I thought I had to have it wrong.
Jonathon Mayer is the Stanford researcher who uncovered the Safari breach.
On the surface, he says, it may not seem like a serious transgression.
Google's code was being used only to target ads, and user's personal information was never collected.
But for some, Web searches believed to be private were not.
And that, Mayer says, opens the door to private information being exposed by rogue employees, Internet hacking and more.
Does it get disclosed 'cause an employee is evil, 'cause the company messes up?
Does it get disclosed 'cause the government demands it?
As for the new policy, Google acknowledges that, quote, "people have different privacy concerns.
Our goal is to be clear about what information we collect so that you can make meaningful choices about how it is used."
The bottom line: people use Google because it offers important and useful services that are also free.
At this point, absolutely [you] have to trust Google. And in a sense, on one hand Google is probably more trustworthy than a lot of these other big technology companies.
But because they know so much about us, we have to hold them to a higher standard of trust.
Now, if you're among those concerned about your privacy on Google, the company points out that its privacy controls won't change.
Users still have the option of editing or deleting their search history. But if you don't want to be tracked in the first place,
the easiest solution is this: just sign out of your account, then all your searches will be anonymous.