Google is one of the biggest tech giants that offer a huge variety of services and products to users from all over the world. People nowadays rely on the digital world for majority tasks. Whether it is to check a company’s customer feedbacks or to look for some viral memes, the Internet has it all. People now rely on Google to search for almost every query and the features Google offers make the users more dependent on it than ever.
Although people love the comfort tech companies bring in their lives but what they fear the most is the invading of their privacy for third-parties. Any digital platform will be successful as long as they promise to secure users’ personal information, but if they fail, the users will start moving more towards platforms that offer more security and privacy.
Recently it was discovered that Google uses a tracker that contains information of web browsing including the location and other personal information of users as well and then sends that data to advertising companies through webpages that display no content. This collection of information enables companies to purchase ads matching with users Google profile and web activity to profiles from other companies and this strategy to attract advertisers is even against the ad-buying rules of Google.
When Google was allegedly accused of violating the EU General Data Protection standards, the Data Protection Commission started an investigation in the workings of Google search engines in May.
Photo: Reuters
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Although people love the comfort tech companies bring in their lives but what they fear the most is the invading of their privacy for third-parties. Any digital platform will be successful as long as they promise to secure users’ personal information, but if they fail, the users will start moving more towards platforms that offer more security and privacy.
Recent accusations on Google Search Engine
Recently, the search engine was accused of mishandling the personal data of users and violating their privacy. New evidence was submitted to undergo an investigation into the collection of personal data of Google which is recently blamed for collecting personal information of users and selling it to advertisers. According to reports, Google is accused of allegedly saving personal data from users and conveying this information to advertisers through hidden web pages to not display any signs of violations of EU privacy standards. The evidence of violations of user privacy was submitted to the Data Protection Commission of Ireland - the main company in the European Union that watches over the company.Recently it was discovered that Google uses a tracker that contains information of web browsing including the location and other personal information of users as well and then sends that data to advertising companies through webpages that display no content. This collection of information enables companies to purchase ads matching with users Google profile and web activity to profiles from other companies and this strategy to attract advertisers is even against the ad-buying rules of Google.
Response from Google
In response to the accusations on Google regarding the violations of user privacy Google responded by completely denying the blames and stated that it only sends information or bid requests to bidders with the consent of users. The process recently discovered regarding the collection of user information might be the process of cookie matching or cookie syncing, a strategy used by ad companies to match ads on multiple sites based on the browsing history of users. A developer of Google page also explained the process of cookie matching and the privacy policies the search engine follows in order to make the platform secure and not let any information of user sent to multiple companies.When Google was allegedly accused of violating the EU General Data Protection standards, the Data Protection Commission started an investigation in the workings of Google search engines in May.
Conclusion
Google is a platform that millions of users use on a daily basis to do a variety of chores. So if Google is violating user privacy than it might put the reputation of the firm at stake. Google is a platform that is always known to make its products as a secure space for its users so the accusations might not be as harmful as it seems and we are really looking forward to a detailed insight by Google on this recent issue.
Photo: Reuters
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