Google the search behemoth has been in recent headlines because of the new unified privacy rules that will span all of the services offered by the company.  However, the hubbub is over data that it is collecting about the users they serve.

Don’t all services and companies that offer FREE products to an end user collect some type of data?

All companies do this:  Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and more.  So why trash the name of Google when everyone in the industry is doing the same thing.  Google makes most of its profits by serving relevant ads to you based on searches and information that you’ve input into different profiles that are served through Google (Google Plus and more).

Bottom line:  Do not act like this is news to the technology world; if you are using services online you have been tracked for years.  Google allows users to change their privacy settings; so if the above scares or threatens you — look into adjusting your settings.