Here’s How to Control What Google Users Can See About You
The Internet can definitely be a scary place — there are hackers, scammers and Internet trolls out there. You never know who is lurking on the other side of the computer screen or what they’re doing with your public information. People have long taken issue with what kind of information tech companies like Google track and keep on you, and in response to the backlash and demand for greater privacy settings, Google has recently launched something called the About Me page.
The About Me page shows your contact information like email address, phone number, education, work history and more. It’s pretty easy to see what people can access on your public profile AND to edit what sort of info you feel comfortable with having on there (just click on that handy little pencil symbol in the upper right-hand corner of each box).
While there was no big announcement regarding the page, Google did launch the feature just this week. It might surprise you just how much personal info Google really has on you, and it’s partly because they have a finger in every major platform pie, from Gmail to YouTube to Maps to Google Plus — yeah, they’re a super ubiquitous company. But according to the statement Google issued to Tech Crunch, “Information in About Me is information that people provided to Google directly.” Yikes, we actually gave them all this! Now, just because you delete your phone number from your About Me page, it doesn’t mean you’re deleting it from Googe’s database. It does mean, though, that your phone number isn’t available for the public to see. Therefore, it’s still pretty important to check out your About Me page.
Privacy is always a good policy.
Will you be adjusting how much people can see on your profile? Tell us in the comments below!
(h/t Tech Crunch)