Google stands as one of the biggest and recently most controversial data collecting companies on the planet. Some critics of Google’s data collection methods suggest that the company should reduce its privacy policy to one word: none. In a brief first reported by Consumer Watchdog, Google wrote that its users should have “no legitimate expectation of privacy” (Del Castillo, 2013).

Currently Google’s privacy statement is over 2,200 words long and in it the search engine giant openly admits to collecting six types of information from its users. The first is device information and Google says it may collect device-specific information such as the hardware model and phone number. Next is log information and when users use Google’s services to view content provided by the company, they can automatically collect and store that data in server logs. This information includes what the user searchers, phone numbers of friends that are called, and the duration of calls. Another type of information Google collects is location information. When users use a location-enabled Google service, the company can collect and process information about their actual location, like GPS signals sent by a mobile device. Google also collects unique application numbers and this is number and information about the apps users install. The information giant also collects and stores local information, which includes personal information from user’s devices such as HTML5 and application data caches. Lastly, Google collects cookies and anonymous identifiers. The company says they use unspecified technology to collect and store information when users visit a Google service (Del Castillo, 2013).

After that exhaustive list, users are probably wondering, “What information doesn’t Google collect?” Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff to using the best services in the market. Users have to be willing to give up their privacy in exchange for the best services. Google’s ability to create personalized ads and results is what makes them supreme in their industry. They have the ability to create these results because they know everything about their users. Google is a modern day “Big Brother”, but that still does not stop people from using their services on a daily basis.

Some users have taken a stance against Google and plaintiffs in a data-mining lawsuit stated that Google’s automated scanning of email represents an illegal interception of their electronic communications without consent. According to Google, “Just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient’s assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email today cannot be surprised if their emails are processed by the recipient’s [email provider] in the course of delivery. All e-mail users necessarily give implied consent to the automated processing of their emails.” However, upon its introduction in 2004, Gmail was immediately slammed by lawmakers and privacy advocates as a horrific invasion into Internet users’ privacy. Critics contended that it should be illegal for a company to scan the text of its customers’ e-mail correspondence and display relevant advertising (Musil, 2013).

While on the surface this sounds like a blatant invasion of privacy, very few users are outraged enough to stop using Google services. The privacy infringement also benefits consumers with personalized ads so this again represents the tradeoff between sharing information. It seems that users enjoy that fact that Google has the ability to finish their sentences and make their lives easier.

Recently Google purchased Nest Labs for $3.2 billion dollars. This acquisition serves as another step forward towards a future when Google has enough access to lives of high-income consumers to gain psychological insights that no company has ever possessed. Nest’s Learning Thermostat can track movements and activity of people in their homes, an ability that will be improving by leaps and bounds since acquired by Google. This information combined with the analysis of email and search patterns, as well as smartphone GPS mapping of moving outside of the home, gives Google the opportunity to build an exceptionally intimate consumer profile. Google will be able to have information about user’s current consumption patterns and future choices as well (Kuittien, 2014).

Combining information of what happens in people’s homes with search data and email keywords can be an incredibly potent combination. Most people are unaware how certain facets of daily behavior correlate with various mental disorders and personality traits. With the coordination of Google’s existing profiling power and Nest’s awareness of daily routines, advertising industry psychologists could not only build accurate profile of consumers, but even time marketing messages to cyclical peaks and troughs of manic and depressive phases of certain types of personalities. For example, if a user is visiting neighborhood bars at least twice a week and bringing back different dates between two and four times each month, ads for Durex may be popping up in the YouTube videos they watch with increasing frequency (Kuitten, 2014).

Google knows more about consumers than they even realize due to the intimate mapping of search and email keywords. Users that grant Nest access to their lives be doing it voluntarily with Google providing the necessary privacy policy. Most users probably won’t mind sharing information just as most users don’t mind Google combining Gmail, YouTube, and search information into intricate consumer profiles.  A good amount of people actually appreciate receiving ad messages that suit their interests (Kuitten, 2014).

Users are becoming accustomed to being gently prodded and motivated towards becoming optimal consumers with phenomenal accuracy. Google provides users the right ads at the right moments enticing users to spend more. According to a recent study, consumers are showing an increased willingness to share their data in return for a more personalized and targeted shopping experience. The study conducted by Accenture, surveyed 2,000 U.S. and U.K. consumers, and found that 85% percent said they realized that data tracking makes it possible for retailers to present them with relevant and targeted content. Personalization is the future of consumer marketing and Google is a leader in this industry due to their troves of consumer data. When personalization is done right, the consumer may not even notice, and the benefit is a more relevant experience that cuts through the clutter (Nasri, 2012).

In conclusion, Google has been successful in their mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. They have also found a way for users to accept the fact that nearly all of their online activity is monitored in return for exceptional services. People are willing to trade their privacy in return for relevant search and ad content.  Google has become part of every Internet user’s daily life, even though users are aware the company is monitoring their every keystroke.

References:

Del Castillo, M. (2013, August 15). 6 kinds of your information google openly admits to

collecting. Retrieved from http://upstart.bizjournals.com/news/technology/2013/08/15/6-data-categories-google-collects.html?page=all

Kuittinen, T. (2014, January 14). Say goodbye to privacy: How nest might transform google. Retrieved from http://bgr.com/2014/01/14/google-nest-acquisition-privacy-advertising/

Musil, S. (2013, August 13). Google filing says gmail users should have no expectation of

privacy. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57598420-93/google-filing-says-gmail-users-have-no-expectation-of-privacy/

Nasri, G. (2012, December 10). Why consumers are increasingly willing to trade data for personalization. Retrieved from http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-media/why-consumers-are-increasingly-willing-to-trade-data-for-personalization/