November 5, 2009 Google Dashboard a win-win for your privacy, their profits Play video

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - How many Google accounts do you have? Whether you're like Mike Nikitas with 2, or like me, with, umm, 23, the new Google Dashboard is a great place to visit. The Dashboard brings the settings panels for each of your Google accounts into one place, making it easier for you to see where your personal information is shared.

It's a good PR gesture for a company that has been part of the growing concern over the amount of personal data on the web - but it could also be good for Google, as well.

Here's how it works - in a nutshell. Log into google.com/dashboard, and you'll see all of your Google accounts in a list, with ways to access the settings controls for each of them. Icons also show you which aspects of your personal information are on public display. You can click through and manage your options - and make any needed changes.

Why would Google want to show you just how much they know about you? It might generate a short term shock value (For example, I discovered a Google Latitude account that I opened in February and quickly forgot about.) But in the long run, it's smart business. People are growing more and more concerned about their privacy online - and it's just possible that they'll gravitate to services where they feel they have easier control

over their personal data and how it is used. If I can get that sense of security in one click with Google Dashboard, I'm much more likely to sign up for those programs that use it, rather than running a dozen different programs with a dozen different privacy settings.

What does Google get? More of my information and more of my attention. And THAT is where the money can be made. More control for you could equal more, not less, data for Google. And information is what translates into cash for the world's biggest search provider.

Quick second note: Verizon and Motorola will be rolling out the new Droid "app phone" tomorrow. The phone is getting good reviews for its GPS, ability to run simultaneous applications, potential tethering abilities and the fact that it runs on Verizon's bigger network. But before you sign up - watch out. On November 15, Verizon says it will double its early cancellation fee for smartphone service contracts to $350 (up from $175). It could be a way to slow iPhone defectors, but it also protects Verizon's investment in phone subsidies. That Droid costs Verizon more than the $199 they are charging you, just as the iPhone isn't a $199 device for AT&T.

So Verizon is figuring that if you're going to blow them off early, they want their subsidy back. The $350 reportedly drops by $10 per month through the length of your contract. Will other carriers follow suit? I don't need an app for that. I'd expect it, and soon.

Just read the contract so you know what you're getting into.

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