Google is one of the biggest companies in the technology and business industry today. Their impact on the business market is massive. My workplace uses all the applications within Google for everything work related (Google Calendar, Gmail, Docs, Spreadsheets, Picasa, etc). You name it, and if it is Google related, then we use it at work. We use it to build a better culture of sharing paperwork, communication, etc. The applications allow the levels within the organization to be interdependent upon one another.
However, according to an article from PC World entitled "Does Google Know Too Much About You?" by Ian Paul, it is daunting that Google may know too much about me and my co-workers; more importantly, our organization and its functionality. Everything that you search for through Google goes through their servers and "Google tracks your online behavior to deliver relevant advertising". That's something that I've never considered. Does it help if you delete your cache and erase your history every time you close your browser for those searches to go away? Besides that though, Google still maintains all of our information through Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Is it safe to maintain important information online then? Google also has access to a lot more information than you can think of too. Through Google Maps they know where your location is, through Google Voice they have a copy of your voice and etc. Google has brought up that the privacy of its users is of importance to them and that they only keep your information for up to 18 months and that it is anonymous. The user privacy information has also been made more aware of on their websites as well. However, one last thing, Google is planning to create its own operating system (OS) called Chrome OS. How much further will the company go and where will the new OS put the company on terms of privacy? People fear that Google will be able to access your “online behavior” even offline. My concern for Google is not quite that high yet but this article has truly got me thinking about keeping my personal information online and who uses my computer to search for what.
Check out the PC World article here.
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