While the Google Empire rolls out controversial changes to its privacy rules today that track users across multiple services, NIMBioS also makes some changes of its own with regard to privacy and usage of our web site — changes that we hope might protect your search habits.
New default settings on Google now allow it to collect and cross-reference a logged-in user’s activity on Google-owned sites on the Internet, such Gmail, YouTube, Google docs, Google maps and of course its sophisticated search engine. It also affects smartphones that run on Google’s Android software.
The changes also give Google permission to share its information with other sites.
At NIMBioS, we use Google Analytics to gather and analyze statistics related to use of our web site, including traffic volumes, operating systems, browser types and screen resolutions. We use this information to monitor and assess the effectiveness and accessibility of our web pages. Google Analytics allows web site owners to opt out of sharing data with other sites, and so we have chosen to do so. Therefore, on the NIMBioS web site, Google Analytics will exclude these data from any automated processes that are not specifically related to operating and improving Google Analytics or protecting the security and integrity of the data.
Google says its new privacy policy will help to streamline a user’s Internet experience, tailoring advertisements based on the user’s activity. However, privacy-protection groups and consumer advocates contend that Google is going too far, gathering too much personal data and sending it to other sites, without a person’s explicit consent.
Respecting our users’ privacy, we at NIMBioS think we have taken the necessary steps to continue to assure some measure of privacy. You can read more about our Privacy Policy and other NIMBioS policies at https://legacy.nimbios.org/governance/policies.