There is no denying the fact that Google today has become a behemoth and it definitely can pride itself of being the company with maximum reach into the personal life and details of people in the world. While Google claims to use this huge fund of data to better serve the customer, it has raised concerns of Google constructing a massive dossier on each of its users which it can use for targeted marketing and selling. The concerns have turned into fears after Google made a sweeping change of consolidating almost all their privacy policies under a single dossier. In a move to assuage the fears, Google has arrived with Google Takeout.
What is Google Takeout?
Google Takeout is a simple service, by which you will be able to download an archive of all the data that Google has on you. Well, the ‘all’ in the statement is not completely true though. We shall see that later. Once you sign into the service with your Google account, you get a choice to either choose specific Google services or ‘takeout’ all the listed ones. It is one click to download the archives.
What Takeout offers
The Takeout archive arrives as a zipped file. Some of the information is neatly organized into folders while some others like the docs and +1 bookmark are not. Here is a list of all the Google archives that you can download:
- Your Google Buzz history
- All the different sites which you have +1 ed
- List of contacts in your Google+ circles and in Gmail (separately)
- Copies of all documents in Google Docs
- Copies of all images that you upload into Picasa
- Personal data, basic information and links that you have shard on Google+
- Google voice log, complete with attempted calls, successful calls, mp3 files of voicemail and transcript of each message
What Takeout does not include
If you felt that you were being doled out an exhaustive ‘takeout’ here is something to spoil the party – a sample list of what your takeout package does not include! (The list is actually very long if one considers all the services for which Google collects information.)
- Google talk and Google search history
- Youtube videos which you have liked and commented
- Posts that you have made in Blogger and the comments you have left there
- Data and entries from Google Health and Google Calendar
- Bookmarks which have been either stored on synced with Google Chrome browser
- Location information in Google Latitude
- All the data and information pertaining to your Android phone or device
- Anything in Orkut, Google Adwords or Google finance
How does one get to access these archives then? It is a painful process wherein one has to visit Google’s Data Liberation Front and make separate requests for the same.
The catch
Here is the catch – for whatever worth Google Takeout is, you can only get a copy of your information which is being stored in Google’s massive servers. There is no way you delete anything that you do not want Google to sit upon via the Takeout. In that sense, it is not a ‘take out’!
If one wishes to delete any information from Google, the only way (and it is a tough one) is to visit each of the services being used and delete the data or account manually. Google has intelligently embedded clauses in its privacy policies which can cause concern. There is one, for instance, where Google can refuse to entertain requests which need ‘disproportionate technical effort’. Also, there is a clause which protects Google from deleting information in the back-ups. And this includes even the information which you have manually deleted.
The benefits of Takeout
For those not overly concerned about privacy issues, Takeout is simply charming. It offers a one-stop shop to download different information in one click. Takeout becomes a tool for such people. Takeout is also a positive step by Google to exhibit their intent of being transparent.
Some have hailed Takeout as a strong positive step by Google in displaying its commitment to the “Don’t be evil” slogan. However, takeout is a far cry from that. It has still a long distance to cover before it can give its users a legit and easy way to realize the information Google really has on them. And this is because, the number of the services which come in the ambit of Takeout is paltry compared to those that don’t. Takeout needs a radical expansion – one that includes giving the users the ability to delete also. Is Google listening?
About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology and autos. Beside this she is fond of fancy accessories. She is a tech freak and loves to write on her sites cellphonebeat and Gizmowatch.
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