Information we collect and how we use it
We may collect the following types of information:
Information you provide – When you sign up for a Google Account, we ask
you for personal information. We may combine the information you submit
under your account with information from other Google services or
third parties in order to provide you with a better experience and to
improve the quality of our services. For certain services, we may give
you the opportunity to opt out of combining such information. You can
use the Google Dashboard to learn more about the information associated
with your Account. If you are using Google services in conjunction
with your Google Apps Account, Google provides such services in
conjunction with or on behalf of your domain administrator. Your
administrator will have access to your account information including
your email. Consult your domain administrator’s privacy policy for more
information.
Cookies – When you visit Google, we send one or more cookies to your
computer or other device. We use cookies to improve the quality of our
service, including for storing user preferences, improving search
results and ad selection, and tracking user trends, such as how people
search. Google also uses cookies in its advertising services to help
advertisers and publishers serve and manage ads across the web and on
Google services.
Log information – When you access Google services via a browser,
application or other client our servers automatically record certain
information. These server logs may include information such as your web
request, your interaction with a service, Internet Protocol address,
browser type, browser language, the date and time of your request and
one or more cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your
account.
User communications – When you send email or other communications to
Google, we may retain those communications in order to process your
inquiries, respond to your requests and improve our services. When you
send and receive SMS messages to or from one of our services that
provides SMS functionality, we may collect and maintain information
associated with those messages, such as the phone number, the wireless
carrier associated with the phone number, the content of the message,
and the date and time of the transaction. We may use your email address
to communicate with you about our services.
Affiliated Google Services on other sites – We offer some of our
services on or through other web sites. Personal information that you
provide to those sites may be sent to Google in order to deliver the
service. We process such information under this Privacy Policy.
Third Party Applications – Google may make available third party
applications, such as gadgets or extensions, through its services. The
information collected by Google when you enable a third party
application is processed under this Privacy Policy. Information
collected by the third party application provider is governed by their
privacy policies.
Location data – Google offers location-enabled services, such as Google
Maps and Latitude. If you use those services, Google may receive
information about your actual location (such as GPS signals sent by a
mobile device) or information that can be used to approximate a location
(such as a cell ID).
Unique application number – Certain services, such as Google Toolbar,
include a unique application number that is not associated with your
account or you. This number and information about your installation
(e.g., operating system type, version number) may be sent to Google when
you install or uninstall that service or when that service
periodically contacts our servers (for example, to request automatic
updates to the software).
Other sites – This Privacy Policy applies to Google services only. We do
not exercise control over the sites displayed as search results, sites
that include Google applications, products or services, or links from
within our various services. These other sites may place their own
cookies or other files on your computer, collect data or solicit
personal information from you.
In addition to the above, we may use the information we collect to:
Provide, maintain, protect, and improve our services (including advertising services) and develop new services; and
Protect the rights or property of Google or our users.
If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for
which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such
use.
Google processes personal information on our servers in the United
States of America and in other countries. In some cases, we process
personal information outside your own country.
Choices
You can use the Google Dashboard to review and control the information stored in your Google Account.
Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can reset
your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is
being sent. However, some Google features and services may not function
properly if your cookies are disabled.
Google uses the DoubleClick advertising cookie on AdSense partner sites
and certain Google services to help advertisers and publishers serve
and manage ads across the web. You can view and manage your ads
preferences associated with this cookie by accessing the Ads
Preferences Manager. In addition, you may choose to opt out of the
DoubleClick cookie at any time by using DoubleClick’s opt-out cookie.
Information sharing
Google only shares personal information with other companies or
individuals outside of Google in the following limited circumstances:
We have your consent. We require opt-in consent for the sharing of any sensitive personal information.
We provide such information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies or
other trusted businesses or persons for the purpose of processing
personal information on our behalf. We require that these parties agree
to process such information based on our instructions and in compliance
with this Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and
security measures.
We have a good faith belief that access, use, preservation or disclosure
of such information is reasonably necessary to (a) satisfy any
applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental
request, (b) enforce applicable Terms of Service, including
investigation of potential violations thereof, (c) detect, prevent, or
otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues, or (d) protect
against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, its users or
the public as required or permitted by law.
If Google becomes involved in a merger, acquisition, or any form of sale
of some or all of its assets, we will ensure the confidentiality of
any personal information involved in such transactions and provide
notice before personal information is transferred and becomes subject
to a different privacy policy.
Information security
We take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized
access to or unauthorized alteration, disclosure or destruction of data.
These include internal reviews of our data collection, storage and
processing practices and security measures, including appropriate
encryption and physical security measures to guard against unauthorized
access to systems where we store personal data.
We restrict access to personal information to Google employees,
contractors and agents who need to know that information in order to
process it on our behalf. These individuals are bound by confidentiality
obligations and may be subject to discipline, including termination
and criminal prosecution, if they fail to meet these obligations.
Accessing and updating personal information
When you use Google services, we make good faith efforts to provide you
with access to your personal information and either to correct this
data if it is inaccurate or to delete such data at your request if it
is not otherwise required to be retained by law or for legitimate
business purposes. We ask individual users to identify themselves and
the information requested to be accessed, corrected or removed before
processing such requests, and we may decline to process requests that
are unreasonably repetitive or systematic, require disproportionate
technical effort, jeopardize the privacy of others, or would be
extremely impractical (for instance, requests concerning information
residing on backup tapes), or for which access is not otherwise
required. In any case where we provide information access and
correction, we perform this service free of charge, except if doing so
would require a disproportionate effort. Because of the way we maintain
certain services, after you delete your information, residual copies
may take a period of time before they are deleted from our active
servers and may remain in our backup systems. Please review the service
Help Centers for more information.
Enforcement
Google adheres to the US Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of Notice,
Choice, Onward Transfer, Security, Data Integrity, Access and
Enforcement, and is registered with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s
Safe Harbor Program.
Google regularly reviews its compliance with this Privacy Policy. When
we receive formal written complaints, it is Google’s policy to contact
the complaining user regarding his or her concerns. We will cooperate
with the appropriate regulatory authorities, including local data
protection authorities, to resolve any complaints regarding the transfer
of personal data that cannot be resolved between Google and an
individual.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We
will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without your
explicit consent. We will post any Privacy Policy changes on this page
and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent
notice (including, for certain services, email notification of Privacy
Policy changes). We will also keep prior versions of this Privacy Policy
in an archive for your review.
