MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Google Inc. says it will rewrite its privacy policy to grant it explicit rights to "combine personal information" across its multiple products and services.
A post on the official Google blog said starting March 1 the activities and data of a Google user signed in will be used to provide a "simpler, more intuitive" experience for users across all the Google services, CNET.com reported Tuesday.
Google said the changes will come as its 60 privacy policies for its different services are rolled into one overall privacy policy designed to be simpler and easier to understand.
The main change will come for users with Google Accounts, the company said.
"Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you're signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services," Alma Whitten, director of privacy, product and engineering, said in the blog post. "In short, we'll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said he worried the changes would lead to further erosion of user privacy.
"These privacy policy consolidations have always led to a lowering of overall privacy standards," he said in an e-mail to CNET.
