A new product that gives users a new level of insight into what the world’s biggest search engine knows about them was launched Thursday. Google Dashboard lets users see reports on the data Google has collected on them.
In a blog post, Google said the Dashboard is an improvement on past efforts like the Privacy Center to give users access to retained information. Dashboard is “an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control … (and) designed to be simple and useful,” the posting said.
“The Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings,” Google wrote. At launch, Dashboard included 20 Google products, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Web History, Orkut, YouTube, Picasa, Talk and Reader.
Privacy Settings Hard to Find
While Dashboard offers a new level of user access to their data, it’s also raising privacy concerns about how secure the service is. “If you want to make that stuff private — or just find out if it’s even possible to make it private — you have to go deep into the settings of each Google app. If you don’t already know where to go to change this setting, you may not get there,” complained Robert X. Cringley on InfoWorld.
Google’s programs contain scads of potentially damaging information about users. For instance, an article on the Dumb Little Man site details how a burglar could easily discover when a Google Calendar user is away from home just by looking at a public calendar and using a few easy research techniques. The author details his pursuit of one user like this:
“In literally 20 minutes, I now know the name, address, phone number, and schedule of this woman. If I can do it, you can be … sure…