Google’s about to get a whole lot more personal. The company recently began rolling out an update that draws info from your Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Plus account to serve up personalized search results for things like your flight times and reservations. It’s sort of one-stop Google shopping for your life, as you can check the status of your flight or remember what time your doctor’s appointment is by Googling it. The update is already available to many US users on their computers, and is making its way to smartphones and tablets now. While the new feature is convenient, it raises questions about privacy. Forget to log out of Google on your work computer? Everyone can find out what you’ve ordered and what you plan on doing this weekend. The feature can be turned if you don’t want Google to be able to collect this sort of data, though, so if you want to keep your private life private … well, relatively private, anyway … you don’t have to worry.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.