Good Google, Bad Google

Well on the good news front, when you use Gmail inside of Google Chrome's web browser, Google automatically encrypts your email, making it safer to use.  This new feature has been rolled out in the wake of recent hacking attempts in China into Gmail accounts.  You will notice when logging into Gmail it will begin with https:// and not the typically used http://.  The technology used to enforce the encryption is called HSTS, which stands for HTTP Strict Transport Security and which lets a browser specify that a Web site may only be used over a secure HTTP connection. HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the standard that governs how Web browsers communicate with Web servers to retrieve a Web page.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20071239-264/chrome-encrypts-gmail-whether you-want-it-or-not/#ixzz1PT8qejzx

On the bad side, an exclusive investigation by CNET has revealed that when using Google Maps, Google has been collecting more than your IP address at the location.  They have also been collecting your Hardware ID of the device you are using (ie. computer, smartphone).  What this means is that, technically, Google can track your whereabouts and has a history of your whereabouts.   All the privacy advocates are throwing up at this point.