Google Taking Heat for Swiping More Personal Data

Google's new privacy policy, designed to unify its various services, is not expected to be announced until March 1, but already consumer advocates are warning that the digital giant will be tracking and combining more information about us than ever before, reports the Guardian. Google says its new rules will be greatly simplified, as the company currently has more than 70 different privacy policies, but critics say there is too much room for Google to abuse that data. "In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience," said a Google spokesman.

Google plans on treating all of its services—YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Google+ and Android mobile—as a single collection of data, which can better target advertising and other revenue-generating services. There will be no way of opting out of being tracked, according to reports. "There is no way a user can comprehend the implication of Google collecting across platforms for information about your health, political opinions and financial concerns," said one privacy expert. Google has recently come under fire for adding Google+ information to its searches, which critics say undermines the neutrality of its search engine. (More Google stories.)