Google Announces New Privacy Director

Tired of seeing a different privacy policy every time you log onto different Google services? Well, Google’s tired of it too. The company recently appointed a new director of privacy whose first order of business was to streamline Google’s privacy policies.

 

When Google created Buzz, an earlier network before Google Plus, there was Internet mayhem. Users were appalled when their email contact list was suddenly available for their circle of friends to see. Buzz was quickly taken down and Google worked hard to get past their disastrous mistake.

 

Google has since hired a new director of privacy, Alma Whitten. Whitten is an engineer who has a background in computer software. Most recently, as many Google users have assuredly noticed, she has established many new changes to Google’s privacy system.

 

As recently reported by CNN Money, Google has created a team of people called the internal privacy group who specialize in privacy systems. According to the report, the team of experts specializes in “specific areas of privacy like data anonymization, location awareness, and advertising.”

 

The team is in charge of looking over every product that is created to ensure the engineers did not leave something important out. One thing this team will maintain a strict focus on is preventing users’ locations from getting leaked to advertisers.

 

The company has also put rules in place that make sure privacy decisions are not finalized by only one person. As the new privacy policy indicates, privacy policy changes will undergo a more thorough inspection from multiple parties to prevent any problems or oversights.

 

Ever since the Buzz debacle, Google has remained very strict about making its privacy regulations accepted by users to gain their trust again. Google achieved a better privacy culture “by linking privacy to staff evaluations. When Googlers are up for promotions, one factor that’s weighed is whether they ingrained privacy into their products and effectively used the Privacy Working Group.”

 

Google’s new search tool will display social network information. They are working overtime on making sure their privacy policy will be correct before these new programs are launched. They have the ability to track user queries into the search engine. This is how they relate the information back to affiliate marketing companies who want to advertise on Google’s websites.

 

Affiliate marketing programs use techniques such as social media, blogging, and email lists to advertise their clients’ businesses. Google’s privacy agreement with advertisers will not allow them to learn the user’s location and other personal information. However, advertisers will have access to user search queries so they can decide which client ad will be displayed.

 

As online training company Capital Online Revenue, Inc. reports, Google’s privacy changes can prove especially helpful for smaller online businesses. As described on a company blog, “Capital Online Revenue, Inc. will consider what people search for based on your business. The program can also help you determine keywords they use to search for things.”

 

As Google’s search engine continues to refine, user-based queries will also become easier to directly link to specific businesses. This could mean a much larger revenue growth than expected for many small businesses.

 

Affiliate marketing websites use this information to publicize their client’s business by advertising the business based on user’s interests. Google wants their users to be happy, and the way to do that is to ensure their privacy. The new privacy director Alma Whitten is working day-and-night to guarantee that privacy policies will stay intact.