Google checkout launches - but is it a privacy threat?
by Brian Turner
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Google has formally announced the launch of it’s long anticipated payment gateway - Google Checkout.
However, as with most recent Google releases, it seems one of the primary purposes is to collect data on what people are doing online.
Online merchants that offer Google Checkout for purchases will be giving Google a free reign over customer data - payment information, order history, and sites and product history - with no privacy protections to prevent Google exploiting this data elsewhere.
While Google are trying to sweeten the pill by offering transaction cost discounts for AdWords advertisers, the bottom line is that most individuals should have a right to control just how extensively this data is controlled and used beyond immediate purposes.
At present Google seems intent on collect that information regardless, and while no doubt there is a real place for Google to apply a payment gateway, without proper controls over the data collection and use, shoppers can be justified in being suspicious of it.
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