If you’ve ever wondered exactly how much data Google has collected on you, between all the Gmail messages, saved Google searches, images on Orkut, Blogger profiles, YouTube videos viewed (I could keep on going!) then Google’s newly introduced Dashboard will keep you in the loop.
In the spirit of transparency, Google Dashboard is a one-stop shop providing an overview of all the data associated with your central Google account.
Right now, this covers 20 Google products, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, YouTube, Reader, Latitude and Google Talk.
“In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over your own data, we’ve built the Google Dashboard,” said Alma Whitten, software engineer; Yariv Adan, product manager; and Marissa Mayer, VP of search products and user experience.
“Designed to be simple and useful, the dashboard summarises data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings,” continued the official blog post.
So basically, if you are signed up for (multiple accounts of) multiple services this is one handy way to monitor, control and clean up your data footprint with Google.
And if you’re concerned about how much information you have out there on the web publicly and what is privately stored, there is a handy people icon beside information you are sharing with others.
By Marie Boran
