Privacy is a major concern in today's digital age. Never before has it been so easy for people to find information about other people. That is why it is important for every individual to pay close attention to what they are putting online for others to see. When a major player in online life, such as Google, changes its privacy policy, it is the responsibility of all Internet users to be aware of the changes being made in relation to their personal data.

Chances are pretty good you have used a Google product before. Chances are decent that you have used one today. According to comScore, 65.9 percent of U.S. searches were handled by Google in December. Google is that maker of Android, which accounted for 46.9 percent of all smartphone subscription as of November. Google also runs Youtube, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Docs, Picasa, Chrome, Blogger and multitudes of others. Google is a massive digital company and handles a considerable amount of personal data.

Google announced last week that they are planning on merging the privacy policies of their various services into one privacy policy starting March 1. There are a few products that are not consolidating, including Google Wallet, Google Books and Chrome. This is a move to allow many of Google's services to communicate with one another and share data. Google says this can lead to better search results. Its example shows a person searching for "jaguar" will get more results for the car company instead of the animal, if a person has recently been searching for a new car.

The type of data Google stores can be found in its privacy policy. It stores information such as what kind of device you are using and what kind of network you are using. If you use an Android device attached to a Google account, it stores location and telephone information. Google then adds a cookie for other Google services to access. A cookie is not just a delicious dessert. It is a piece of data that is stored on your computer that remembers certain information for later.

Google's Adsense uses that cookie to personalize the ads that you see.

Google wants to unify its data storage to better target ads. Ninety-nine percent of Google's revenu comes from Adsense, which handles ads for its search and other sites that choose to use the service. With more information gathered on a user, Google can more aggressively target its ads. Google currently targets ads, but the data they have is limited to the service you are using. The results are not always perfect.

When looking at my Gmail account, I have an ad for women-only grants. That is not exactly a hit. With access to data across all services, those ads can better entice a user to buy a product they have been searching for. If Google knows I have been searching for party decorations, and views my calendar, it would know my son had a recent birthday.

By using a Google service you automatically agree to this new privacy policy. There are some settings that you can change to reduce the information that Google stores. By going to google.com/dashboard and logging in, you can edit some privacy settings for your account. It is possible from here to remove past web searches and view information that Google has on you. With Chrome, you can enable incognito mode, and the browser will not store and information from that session. On an Android device a user can remove their Google account. This is not a viable option though, as removing the Google account will limit what can be done with the phone. You no longer will be able to download apps or use many of the built-in Google features.

Being vigilant is important in the digital age. It is ultimately your responsibility to know what data of yours is being stored online. If you are one of the many people that use a Google service, be sure to check out the updated rules at google.com/policies/privacy/preview. Quitting Google altogether is not an option with all of their services.

But it is important to take the steps to minimize the amount of your information that it stores.

Andrew Duscher is a Fort Hays State University graduate and information technology coordinator at The Hays Daily News.