Hello Everyone,

As many of us know, Google knows more about anyone on the web than virtually any other organization.  However, what some of us may not know or, more accurately, remember is that we can begin to understand and see how much Google knows about anyone of us with the use of the Google Dashboard.

What is the Google Dashboard? 

Ordinarily the term ‘dashboard’ is associated with complex business intelligence packages. Such dashboards are intended to give key strategic information in one location.

While Google Dashboard isn’t adorned with graphs and dials it does give ordinary folk a view of their entire Google account on one page. You may be surprised just how entrenched Google is in your online life.

The Dashboard lists a centralised snapshot of all your pertinent Google information, including Gmail messages, web search history, YouTube subscriptions, calendar entries and much, much more.

Information presented includes details about your sent and received e-mails, drafts and attachments, online chat messages, personalised web history, Picasa and Google Maps usage and many other individual items.

“We think of this as a great step towards giving you transparency and control over your data,” said Alan Noble, Head of Engineering for Google Australia and New Zealand.

The Dashboard is not just read only; you can also manage the data and change settings with ease. In this regard alone, the Dashboard makes a brilliant all-in-one Google control panel, so to speak.

Google explains the Dashboard was developed with the goal of being transparent to its users, as well as giving them control.

With this objective Google Dashboard follows on from other recent Google innovations like the Data Liberation Front (DLF) that makes it easier for people to bring their data in and out of Google’s product suites to and from competing products.

The dashboard lists some of the information associated with the Google services you use: your name, your email address, the number of contacts, the number of conversations in your Gmail inbox, your Google profile, the most recent entries from the web history etc. It’s a long answer to the question: “What does Google know about me?”.

To get started, go to http://google.com/dashboard 

Enjoy and Beware, 

Mark