Google has released a feature this Thursday that lets users see and control data that the Web giant has collected regarding them, known as Google Dashboard, the service provides an online summary of a user's Google files -- Gmail, Picasa photos, Google Docs, and so on, by collecting pre-existing privacy controls in one place.
Dashboard users are able to review and delete recent Google searches, see recently opened and shared documents and survey their interactions all the way through other Google-powered sites such as You Tube.
Google, which has come under fire from politicians as well as privacy advocates for its data-collection practices, announced the service through a blog post headlined, "Transparency, Choice and Control -- now complete with a Dashboard!"
"Over the past eleven years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users," the company added in its official blog on Thursday. "Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products all around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, plus our responsibility to protect your privacy and data."
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which have been critical of the amount of personal data Google stores, known as the dashboard a small step in the right direction.
"If Google really wanted to grant users control over their privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in the crucial areas like search data and online behavior," spokesman John M. Simpson added on the group's Web site.
"The Dashboard gives the appearance of control devoid of the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you also delivering you to its marketers."
Reviews in the blogosphere Thursday appeared relatively muted on behalf of a feature Google described as unprecedented in scale as well as level of detail.
"Sure, it is nice to have all these in one place, should you ever want to review all your private information stored at Google at once, but there is nothing really new about this list," added Stan Schroeder, a blogger at social media site Mashable. "Unfortunately, it is also an unpleasant reminder of just how much data you are giving out to Google."
Tech blogger Matt Asay said most Google users won't bother with Dashboard because people are willing to give up some Internet privacy in exchange for being able to store up and share information online.
"Dashboard leaves Google in the prime position of being able to truthfully utter that it doesn't control user data, as still delivering increasingly beneficial services based on that data," he wrote. "It will not change the way that the vast greater part of consumers use Google, but it just may change the way they think about Google."
Dashboard users are able to review and delete recent Google searches, see recently opened and shared documents and survey their interactions all the way through other Google-powered sites such as You Tube.
Google, which has come under fire from politicians as well as privacy advocates for its data-collection practices, announced the service through a blog post headlined, "Transparency, Choice and Control -- now complete with a Dashboard!"
"Over the past eleven years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users," the company added in its official blog on Thursday. "Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products all around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, plus our responsibility to protect your privacy and data."
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which have been critical of the amount of personal data Google stores, known as the dashboard a small step in the right direction.
"If Google really wanted to grant users control over their privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in the crucial areas like search data and online behavior," spokesman John M. Simpson added on the group's Web site.
"The Dashboard gives the appearance of control devoid of the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you also delivering you to its marketers."
Reviews in the blogosphere Thursday appeared relatively muted on behalf of a feature Google described as unprecedented in scale as well as level of detail.
"Sure, it is nice to have all these in one place, should you ever want to review all your private information stored at Google at once, but there is nothing really new about this list," added Stan Schroeder, a blogger at social media site Mashable. "Unfortunately, it is also an unpleasant reminder of just how much data you are giving out to Google."
Tech blogger Matt Asay said most Google users won't bother with Dashboard because people are willing to give up some Internet privacy in exchange for being able to store up and share information online.
"Dashboard leaves Google in the prime position of being able to truthfully utter that it doesn't control user data, as still delivering increasingly beneficial services based on that data," he wrote. "It will not change the way that the vast greater part of consumers use Google, but it just may change the way they think about Google."
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