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With the rise of status tracking apps like Fitbit and WakeMate, it should come as no surprise to hear that people love quantifying and compartmentalizing every sliver of their daily lives. It appears that Valley veteran Google has also picked up on this trend.
In an effort to seem like they actually care about your privacy, the company announced today on its blog that you can now receive “Account Activity” reports in your inbox. The monthly reports will give you a glimpse of your account statistics, like amount of emails sent and received, types of searches you conducted and what browsers you used.
“Sometimes it’s helpful to step back and take stock of what you’re doing online,” reads the post. “If you sign up, each month we’ll send you a link to a password-protected report with insights into your signed-in use of Google services.”
The search giant is touting the reports as a way to stay up to date on your account activity and fend off any potential privacy breaches. But while the reports are certainly appealing to our inner narcissist, they also serve as a vaguely creepy reminder of just how much information Google has on you. And who wants to be reminded that their top search was “bropinning” and their most e-mailed person was their mom? Just like, as a random example…
Jessica Roy is a reporter for Betabeat and the New York Observer. Follow Jessica on Twitter or via RSS. jroy@observer.com
