Google plans to 'Combine' your user data

Google is planning to rewrite its privacy policy to grant it explicit rights to "combine personal information" across multiple products and services. Previously, it had only implicit rights to do so.

Beginning March 1, the activities and data of a Google user who is signed in will be used to provide a "simpler, more intuitive" experience for users across all the Google services, according to a post on the Official Google blog.

For instance, Google searches may take into consideration context of searches based on the user information and activities, such as knowing that an import car buff would want "Jaguar" the car rather than the big cat of the same name, a video in the post explains. And auto-correct may suggest spellings when a user is typing in Google Docs or Gmail based on prior content they have created.

"It may even be able to tell you when you'll be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and local weather conditions," the video says. "All of which means we're not just keeping your private stuff private. We're making it more useful to you in your daily life too."
The changes will roll out along with modifications to the company's privacy policies and terms of service. Google's 60 privacy policies for its different services are being rolled into one uber privacy policy that the company said is designed to be simpler and easier to understand. The terms of service are also being rewritten and consolidated.

In some cases, such as for financial services like Google Wallet, a product may be regulated by industry-specific privacy laws and require detailed descriptions of our practices," the FAQ says. "In others, like Chrome, we simply wanted to explain our privacy practices specific to those products in more detail. In these cases we chose to keep product-specific notices rather than clutter up the main Privacy Policy

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