Google has officially updated their terms of service to allow the company to use your name and image on their ads that populate the internet.
YOU CAN OPT OUT OF THIS HERE.
The new terms of service read:
If you have a Google Account, we may display your Profile name, Profile photo, and actions you take on Google or on third-party applications connected to your Google Account (such as +1’s, reviews you write and comments you post) in our Services, including displaying in ads and other commercial contexts. We will respect the choices you make to limit sharing or visibility settings in your Google Account. For example, you can choose your settings so your name and photo do not appear in an ad.
The Wall Street Journal provides this nifty chart to see what your social networks are using you to promote.
The new “shared endorsements” are ruffling some privacy feathers. “We think it’s a problem,” says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. “It’s a commercial endorsement without consent and that is not permissible in most states in the U.S.”
Facebook tried something similar and was forced to pay a $20M settlement, when they were sued in a class action suit. Facebook had used “endorsements” in the ads run on the social network, but they did not provide a way for users to opt out.
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