Google Makes Privacy More Public

Google’s turning a new eye to privacy — a topic high on many minds following its lost battle to protect YouTube users’ data this week.

The recently revamped “Privacy” section — now accesssible at the bottom of the Google homepage — takes you to a detailed listing of all of Google’s policies and procedures. You can find everything from policies on Gmail and GOOG-411 to user-friendly videos on search privacy, cookie functioning, and even unlisting your number from the Google phone book feature:

Google told the New York Times it decided to make the link more prominent after requests by “users, bloggers, and regulatory bodies,” noting that the section is also now accessible via the results pages.

The Official Google Blog has an interesting little sidebar about how carefully designers monitor the word count on the regular home page, and how they dropped the word “Google” from the copyright to make room for the “Privacy” link without having any more words.