Google to introduce new privacy policy

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Google is to introduce a refreshed main privacy policy, covering the majority of its products.

It will explain what data Google collects and how it is used in a "much more readable way," the internet giant said yesterday evening.

The privacy changes will come into force on 1 March, but users will be notified about them from today via email and on the Google homepage.

Regulators globally have been calling for shorter, simpler privacy policies.

"While we’ve had to keep a handful of separate privacy notices for legal and other reasons, we’re consolidating more than 60 into our main Privacy Policy," said Google's director of privacy, product and engineering Alma Whitten, in a blog post.

"Regulators globally have been calling for shorter, simpler privacy policies - and having one policy covering many different products is now fairly standard across the web."

More specifically, Google has made its Terms of Service "easier to read," as it cuts down the size of the document.

The changes will also explain to account holders that Google may combine data provided to the company across different services.

The company also talked up how its recent changes to search, designed to make results fit users' needs, used this concept of data gathering.

The search alterations have been vehemently attacked by rivals, however, as Facebook and Twitter have raised concerns Google is warping results to point users to Google+, rather than other social networks.

Google's announcement can be seen as another attempt to prove its worth over rival Facebook, which has been heavily criticised for its privacy actions in recent times.

Google also recently changed its policy on nicknames on its social network Google+, allowing the use of pseudonyms – something Facebook tries to crack down on with its "real-name culture."

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