Following growing concerns on how the web giants Google are using it’s users information, they have launched Google Dashboard; a service which allows users with a Google account to view the information that Google has stored on them, It also allows users to delete any information that they would rather Google didn’t have access to.
Google Dashboard lists user information from all services and products owned by Google in one place, information stored includes how many YouTube videos have been viewed, how many emails have been sent using Gmail, and much more.
Google claims that they were not asked to create Google Dashboards, instead it is just another service they want to offer users. They also state that the information available to users on Dashboard has always been accessible, the new service just makes the process of viewing and editing this information much easier for the user.
Google released this statement on their blog today:
'Over the past 11 years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users. Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data,'
Despite being an unpleasant reminder of how much of your personal information is stored and used by Google, the ability to easily remove information is a step forward in protecting private information.