Less than one in eight Google users has read its new privacy policy

Less than one in eight Google users has read the search engine’s new privacy policy, a poll found yesterday.

The great majority are in the dark about the way Google will use information about what they look for and what they do on-line, it said.

The findings came amid deepening concerns about the abuse of private information by internet companies.

At the weekend it was disclosed that people who download smartphone apps may be ignoring small print that allows large-scale intrusion into their lives by outsiders.

The rights they unwittingly hand over even include the legal power to make their camera phones take pictures and video on the command of a app company.

Google has been widely criticized for the way it handles information made available to it by the millions who turn to its search engines and other services.

Its new privacy policy, which comes into effect on Thursday, March 1, sets out how the search engine company will exploit detailed information on its users, down to the locations where they use their smartphones, and how it will distribute it to other organizations.

Google’s new policy replaces around 60 different existing privacy policies.

The poll, carried out by YouGov for the Big Brother Watch pressure group in UK, found that 92% of adults who use the internet go through a Google service at least once a week.

But only 12% of them have read the company’s new privacy policy, which Google has been advertising prominently for weeks.

Nearly half of the adult population said it did not know Google was bringing in a new privacy policy, and only 40% of Google users said they thought the new policy should be brought into operation.

Nick Pickles, of Big Brother Watch, said: “The impact of Google’s new policy cannot be understated, but the public are in the dark about what the changes actually mean.

“Companies should not be allowed to bury in legal jargon and vague statements how they may monitor what we do online, where we use our phones and even listen to what we say in calls.

“This change isn’t about Google collecting more data, it’s about letting the company combine what’s in your emails with the videos you watch and the things you search for.”

Nick Pickles added: “If people don’t understand what is happening to their personal information, how can they make an informed choice about using a service?

“Google is putting advertiser’s interests before user privacy and should not be rushing ahead before the public understand what the changes will mean.”

The pressure group has called for an inquiry into how the new Google policy complies with British data protection law.