OFF THE WIRE
As of Thursday, whatever you do on one Google-owned site will change whatever you see on another Google property – be it Google' search engine, Docs, Maps, Calendar, Gmail, Picassa, YouTube, G+, etc.
"We can provide reminders that you’re going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day," reads Google's blog explaining the search giant's unified policy. This works whether you're accessing Google on your computer, tablet or cellphone, as long as you're logged in.
"People still have to do way too much heavy lifting, and we want to do a better job of helping them out," Google points out.
What the blog posts fails to mention however, is that it is now better equipped to help out law enforcement officials and the government when it comes to finding out about you.
Related: Q&A: Google to dig deeper into users' lives
"The laws governing our digital privacy are woefully inadequate and in some cases incredibly invasive, allowing for police access to our data even if they have no evidence that we've done anything wrong," notes the American Civil Liberties Union's Privacy SOS blog.
