Mixed Reviews For Google Dashboard
Google launched an application Thursday that allows users to see what data is stored in their accounts, but at least one group says the effort doesn't go far enough. The Google Dashboard is "designed to be simple and useful" and summarizes data for a range of products from e-mail and calendar applications to social networking and video sharing platforms. Consumer Watchdog, a group that has repeatedly thrashed Google for its advertising and privacy protection practices, said the Internet giant should let users opt out of tracking and delete information associated with their computer's IP address from Google's servers.
"If Google really wanted to give users control over their privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in crucial areas such as search data and online behavior," Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson said in a press release. "The Dashboard gives the appearance of control without the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you and delivering you to its marketers." That function is Google's "black box and data mine," he said.
Consumer Watchdog said Google should offer a simple "make-me-anonymous" or "don't track" button or icon on its home page, or at the very least in its dashboard, that would prevent search information from being logged at the choice of the user. The group also said that the dashboard, though useful, is not easy to find. Read more about dashboard here.
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