Privacy on the internet is a hot topic these days, and an issue that won’t go away any time soon. What with SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, and anything else you can think of, we’re set to see a host of sites changing their privacy policies.

Google is one of the first to do this. Believe it or not, the search engine has over 60 privacy policies because of the many products and features it offers. What it has done now is condense all of them into one single policy document that will take effect on March 1st. Here are the most important points:

Google collects information about you in two ways. Either you give it when you sign up for a Google account, or it collects it when you use its services. In the latter case, this refers to the websites you visit, how you interact with ads, what device you’re using, where you are, and what you’ve Googled.

This information is then used by Google to improve its products and deliver more relevant content. It tailors search results and ads and records communications between you and it, or keeps a record of your language preferences.

You can review and update your personal information by editing your ad preferences, adjusting how your profile appears to others, controlling how your information is shared, or removing it altogether.

You will still have to give consent for Google to share your information with anyone outside the company. The exceptions are if your account is managed for you by a domain administrator like Google Apps, or if there are legal reasons your information must be shared with a third party.

Here’s a tidy summary of the policy from the horse’s mouth.

Source: Hubspot