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Google makes privacy policy easier to understand, adds new data controls
- To bring the company into compliance with the GDPR, the Google privacy policy has gotten a refresh and some new data tools.
- The Google privacy policy now has helpful videos to make it easier for anyone to understand the information.
- There are also new tools to better control your data and how Google uses that data.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe is set to take effect in only two weeks. As such, many companies are reformatting or in some cases rewriting their policies to bring them into compliance with the new law.
Even a company as huge as Google needs to work hard to comply, which is why the search engine giant recently re-organized its privacy policy to make it easier for the layman to understand. Additionally, there are new features that enable you to take better control of your Google data.
If you visit Google’s privacy policy page, you’ll notice it is simple, colorful, and filled with many helpful videos. Google says that “explanatory videos and illustrations” are helpful because they “can be easier to understand than text alone.” Here’s a sample video that goes over why Google collects your data in the first place:
Although the information in the privacy policy is now easier-than-ever to follow, Google wants to make it clear that “nothing is changing about your current settings or how your information is processed.”
Something that did change is how much control you now have over your data. That’s because Google just made its Download Your Data tool more comprehensive.
First introduced in 2011, Download Your Data enables you to archive your information from across the Google Suite from apps like Google Photos, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail, etc. You can now download your info from even more Google services (the company does not make it clear which ones exactly) and also schedule periodic downloads.
Additionally, it is going to be easier than ever to transfer your data from one service to another. For example, if you don’t like Gmail anymore and would like to switch hosts, you would have to download your Gmail info and then figure out how to transfer it to another company. Google now has a GitHub project which aims to make it easy for seamless transfer of your data from Google to another provider.
You can read the newly-formatted Google privacy policy here, and you can read Google’s statement on the refresh at its blog here.
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