Google Account

Understanding Google privacy

Google's Privacy Policy may seem complex, but it's actually much simpler than it used to be. In the past, every individual Google service came with its own separate policy. But in March 2012, Google consolidated its Privacy Policy to treat you as a single user across all of its services. Whether you're using Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, or any other Google product, Google applies the same Privacy Policy. This also means Google may share information about you among its services.

For example, if you perform a Google search for "dogs" Google might share that information with YouTube. Then, if you were to search YouTube for "pets", videos about dogs would appear higher in the search results. This may sound like a lot of personal information to share with one company, but it's important to remember that Google only uses this information to improve your search results and other Google services.

 Watch this video to learn more about Google's Privacy Policy:

The Google privacy center

Google understands that its Privacy Policy raises concerns among some of its users. To address these concerns, it created the Policies & Principles page, where you can go to read Google's Privacy Policy, watch videos relating to privacy, access privacy tools, and more.

To access the privacy center:

• Click Privacy and Terms at the bottom of any Google page, like Google.com or Gmail.com.

Clicking the Privacy link at the bottom of the Google Search page

Alternatives to Google

Google offers a comprehensive range of web services, but there are alternatives that offer similar services (we've listed some below). While comparable in many ways, these other sites cannot offer the convenience of a single Google account. Still, you may want to consider whether you feel comfortable sharing all of your information and online behavior with Google.

• DuckDuckGo: A search engine that doesn't track your search history
• Hushmail: An email service that encrypts your messages and displays no advertisements
• Vimeo: A popular video hosting site that allows for strong privacy controls