In an op-ed written for The New York Times, CEO Sundar Pichai has defended Google’s approach towards privacy and user data. He wrote, “Privacy must be equally available to everyone in the world, Google’s approach is to make privacy more democratic.” The technology giant has been facing a lot of questions about how it collects users’ location data. Pichai further wrote, “People today are rightly concerned about how their information is used and shared, yet they all define privacy in their own ways. I’ve seen this firsthand as I talk to people in different parts of the world. Privacy is personal, which makes it even more vital for companies to give people clear, individual choices around how their data is used.” At the recently concluded Google I/O 2019, the technology company announced a number of additional privacy and security tools for users across its various products and platforms. Pichai also said that Google focusses on everybody with its products and services. He wrote, “For everyone” is a core philosophy for Google; it’s built into our mission to create products that are universally accessible and useful. That’s why Search works the same for everyone, whether you’re a professor at Harvard or a student in rural Indonesia.” In addition to this, he has also called on the US to come up with new legislation to protect users’ data. “Legislation will help us work toward ensuring that privacy protections are available to more people around the world,” Pichai wrote.
It is worth mentioning that at Google I/O 2019, the company introduced its Android Q operating system, that comes with a number of enhanced features that focus on privacy. Google is giving users more control over the permissions they give to apps too. Android Q’s beta 3 has been rolled out to 21 smartphones by the company and Google has said that the stable version of the operating system will also roll out soon.
