There are many different ways you can use our services – to search for and share information, to
communicate with other people or to create new content. When you share information with us, for
example by creating an Account, we can make those services even better – to show you more
relevant search results and ads, to help you connect with people or to make sharing with others
quicker and easier. As you use our services, we want you to be clear how we’re using information
and the ways in which you can protect your privacy.
Our Privacy Policy explains:
What information we collect and why we collect it.
How we use that information.
The choices we offer, including how to access and update information.
We’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible, but if you’re not familiar with terms like
cookies, IP addresses, pixel tags and browsers, then read about these key terms first. Your
privacy matters to us so whether you are new to us or a long-time user, please do take the time
to get to know our practices – and if you have any questions contact us.
Information we collect
We collect information to provide better services to all of our users – from figuring out basic
stuff like which language you speak, to more complex things like which ads you’ll find most
useful, the people who matter most to you online, or which YouTube videos you might like.
We collect information in the following ways:
Information you give us. For example, many of our services require you to sign up for a Google
Account. When you do, we’ll ask for personal information, like your name, email address,
telephone number or credit card to store with your account. If you want to take full advantage
of the sharing features we offer, we might also ask you to create a publicly visible Google
Profile, which may include your name and photo.
Information we get from your use of our services. We collect information about the services that
you use and how you use them, like when you watch a video on YouTube, visit a website that uses
our advertising services, or view and interact with our ads and content. This information
includes:
Device information
We collect device-specific information (such as your hardware model, operating system version,
unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone number). Google may
associate your device identifiers or phone number with your Google Account.
Log information
When you use our services or view content provided by Google, we automatically collect and store
certain information in server logs. This includes:
details of how you used our service, such as your search queries.
telephony log information like your phone number, calling-party number, forwarding numbers, time
and date of calls, duration of calls, SMS routing information and types of calls.
Internet protocol address.
device event information such as crashes, system activity, hardware settings, browser type,
browser language, the date and time of your request and referral URL.
cookies that may uniquely identify your browser or your Google Account.
Location information
When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location.
We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors
that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points
and cell towers.
Unique application numbers
Certain services include a unique application number. This number and information about your
installation (for example, the operating system type and application version number) may be sent
to Google when you install or uninstall that service or when that service periodically contacts
our servers, such as for automatic updates.
Local storage
We may collect and store information (including personal information) locally on your device
using mechanisms such as browser web storage (including HTML 5) and application data caches.
Cookies and similar technologies
We and our partners use various technologies to collect and store information when you visit a
Google service, and this may include using cookies or similar technologies to identify your
browser or device. We also use these technologies to collect and store information when you
interact with services we offer to our partners, such as advertising services or Google features
that may appear on other sites. Our Google Analytics product helps businesses and site owners
analyze the traffic to their websites and apps. When used in conjunction with our advertising
services, such as those using the DoubleClick cookie, Google Analytics information is linked, by
the Google Analytics customer or by Google, using Google technology, with information about
visits to multiple sites.