My first official post on State of Search was to do with protecting yourself from online fraudsters with a few words of warning re identity theft. After re-reading it recently I realised that I have slipped back in to old habits of posting my life so I thought I would revisit online privacy but this time not just for you – for your family and your kids too. (more…)
I’m sure that many of us, not least of all those who make a living from it, can conceive of a world without the internet. For Generation Y, it has become the all encompassing font of easily accessible knowledge, entertainment and communication. Our lives have become enriched and transformed because of it and I for one don’t think I’ll ever get over the excitement of actively participating in this extraordinary adventure.
The fact that I don’t have to spend hours in the library, or work out complicated maths equations in my head or wait forever for important letters to arrive any more is still a thing of wonder. Like most of my peers, I tend not to take the internet for granted (not that much anyway) precisely because my generation did go to the library, do maths without a calculator and spent hours writing letters with an actual pen – we grew up learning these skills because there was no other way. You learnt your times table by rote and practised your neat handwriting again and again until you got it right, it’s what we all did. (more…)
Germany has always been a country in which privacy matters are very important. Some say it’s the result of the countries history, others say it’s just how the Germans are. We’ve seen the Germans ‘fight’ Google over privacy matters the past few years, from Streetview issues up to the point where they almost banned Google Analytics, something which is recently been followed by Norway.
With Google things seem to have calmed down a little after the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information struck a deal with Google, but now another Internet giant seems to be the target: Facebook. (more…)
The Data Protection Bureau in Norway seems to have concluded that the use of Google Analytics on a website in Norway could very well be illegal. It says it is ‘not in accordance with Norwegian law’.
The ruling is based on the fact that it is unclear how IP addresses are being treated within Google Analytics. The Norwegian authorities believe that when a business starts using Google Analytics and accepts the terms of agreement they are at that point giving Google access to personal data of website visitors. (more…)
One of the major subjects these days is privacy. With everything being tied together, behavioral targeting being at its peak and Google and Facebook playing with their policies, many are focussed on whether or not our privacy is secured.
Google plays on this by using what they know into their benefits, making us feel we are secure. One of these measurements for example was SSL Search, which is terrible for marketers, but really works for the ‘feeling of security’ people have, even though it hasn’t helped their security for one bit.
Yesterday Google announced a new ‘feature’ which can be seen in the light of ‘showing they are open’. Google now gives you “Google Account activity”: an extra option where you can see what you have done, and what Google stores from that. (more…)
It is March 1st today, which means that Google’s new privacy policy officially is “on”. Just a month ago the new policy was announced.
It now seems as if Google might run into a wall when it comes to European regulations. France’s regulator this week said the new policies might violate the European Union’s data protection rules.
The regulator has sent Google a letter in which they told Google that there will be a European-wide investigation of the policy. Google can expect some questions soon. (more…)
Google and privacy, just like Facebook and privacy are a ‘hot item’. Google recently changed their privacy policies. Which has led to a lot of discussion. Webpronews reported about it and asked Danny Sullivan to explain. See the video below.
The chances are over the last few days if you have even the slightest passing interest in SEO you will have come across Google Search Plus Your Web (of Search+ to it’s friends) It’s easily one of the biggest single changes in the UX of Google search ever made and is the endgame many have foreseen in Google’s march towards personalisation.
While talking about it many have referred to changes as encouraging ‘filter bubbles’ while the name is fairly self-explanatory I thought many people might benefit of a ‘primer’ on the filter bubble concept and some further reading which you might find interesting in light of Google’s changes. (more…)
Both Google and Facebook have major privacy issues. And both of them made deals with the FTC to kind of get a grip on that. But who is worse, Google or Facebook? Let’s take a look… (more…)
A Few weeks back one of my employees, Ciaran, said to me “Have you heard? Google is going to hold back keyword data in Analytics?” My reply? “Ha! That’s ridiculous, they would never do that. That would be shooting themselves in the foot”. Ciaran, I owe you an apology. Although they are not really shooting themselves in the foot, more like sawing of their foot and leaving it in a box with a grenade.
Saying I’m outraged is an understatement, but I’m probably more shocked that there is not more noise in the internet marketing industry (especially SEO) than it is. People wake up, Google is lobotomising us! (more…)
We have talked before about Eric Schmidt and his famous quotes. Some think he was crazy for saying them, others believe that if you listen carefully you can get a lot of information out of them.
The Consumer Watchdog in the US is not a big fan of Google and the way they handle privacy. They ‘hit’ on Google once in a while, like in their latest video below. You might agree or disagree, but one thing is for sure: it is very nicely made.
The left hand navigation of your Google Profile account when you are editing it has something special to it. Not that you can make your profile as nice as possible, but if you look well, most of the items are related to privacy.
After “Account overview” there is the “Profile and privacy” tab, which lets you change all sorts of privacy settings. In the sidebar you’ll also find ‘connected accounts’ which enables you to look and edit accounts connected to your name. And finally there is the “Data liberation” tab. This option to get all your data out of Google has never been that visible before. Is Google taking privacy more seriously? (more…)
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