Droid RAZR Maxx Coming Jan. 26; Google to track users' digital footsteps

[Mike Mercury]

Droid RAZR Maxx Coming Jan. 26
Verizon Wireless said Tuesday that its new Droid RAZR MAXX smartphone will be available Jan. 26. The 4G LTE phone will retail for $299 with a contract.

The phone, introduced at International CES earlier this month, will come equipped with Android 2.3.5, which is upgradable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich.)


Google to track users' digital footsteps
Google Inc. is overhauling the way it treats user data, linking information across its array of email, video and social-networking services so that information gathered in one place can be used in another.

For example, if you spent the last hour logged into Google to search the Web for skateboards, the next time you log into YouTube, there's a good chance you'll get recommendations for videos featuring Tony Hawk.

The changes take effect March 1 and remove some of the legal hurdles that Google faced by having more than 70 different privacy policies across various services. Now, there will be one main policy covering services such as Google Plus, Gmail, search, YouTube and Maps, with separate ones covering sensitive services such as Google Wallet.

Still, the changes could irk privacy critics because of the sheer volume of information collected - including your location, list of contacts and the contents of your email.

Google hopes to improve the user experience across its different services and give advertisers a better way to find customers.

"If you're signed into Google, we can do things like suggest search queries - or tailor your search results - based on the interests you've expressed in Google (Plus), Gmail, and YouTube," the company says on a new overview page for its privacy policy. "We'll better understand which version of Pink or Jaguar you're searching for and get you those results faster."

Ryan Calo, director for privacy at the Stanford Center for Internet and Society, said Google is trying to do the best it can to simplify its privacy policy and make it transparent without bogging down people with pages of legalese. The privacy documents now run about 10,000 words, down from 68,000.

But he said the company still needs to be careful how it uses the data so that it helps users, without revealing sensitive information.

"If it creeps people out, then they need to be aware of that," he said.

[wicked_c6]

Everything people do now online is tracked. I've noticed (more than usual) targeted ads based on my search. For example...last week I was looking for new vanities for a home project. After searching google and going to review a couple sites - for the next week I received emails on vanities, every ad on websites I visited had vanities on sale as well. It wasn't just that item - but every item I would google. Kinda scary

[SubZero]

Originally Posted by wicked_c6

Everything people do now online is tracked. I've noticed (more than usual) targeted ads based on my search. For example...last week I was looking for new vanities for a home project. After searching google and going to review a couple sites - for the next week I received emails on vanities, every ad on websites I visited had vanities on sale as well. It wasn't just that item - but every item I would google. Kinda scary

Same here, I was searching for MAME control pads a few weeks ago and now about half the ads I get on websites are for MAME components

[Cybercowboy]

Can you imagine the ads for VINTAGE PORN some people here get?

[Mike Mercury]

Originally Posted by Cybercowboy

Can you imagine the ads for VINTAGE PORN some people here get?

not getting any of those ads; but SIGN ME UP !!!

[mikeg826]

it's amazing the amount of tracking is loaded per webpage. One tool to help combat this is Ghostery - a plugin for Firefox, and IE -.