By Julz Harvey, North Harford High School, Pylesville, Maryland

On March 1, 2012, Google is making some huge changes to their privacy policy.

Currently, Google has over 70 privacy documents for all of their services. The new policy will encompass over 60 of these documents.

What does this mean for the average Google user?

It means that YouTube will know what users are searching for in Google, and users’ Google calendars will know what users are emailing about. Google’s new privacy policies are all about data sharing.

It means that every Google service will know what users are doing on any Google service.

An example of what Google can do is “if you’re browsing on YouTube, the site might recommend and instructional video on how to cut an onion because it knows you just sent an email about cooking classes to a friend,” according to shrevepointtimes.com.

Alma Whitten, Director of privacy, product and engineering for Google, posted on The Official Google Blog about the changes on January, 24, 2012.

Whitten said, on the blog, that the changes are so Google can “make search better – figuring out what you really mean when you type in Apple, Jaguar, or Pink.”

Why are we letting Google take their power over the internet this far? Why are we letting Google take their power over us this far?

Web users should be able to define their own definition of “Apple, Jaguar, or Pink.” Has society gone so far under Google’s control that they feel they must let it define all their words for them?

Web users are not happy about the changes.

“I feel like my privacy is being invaded,” said junior Courteney Larocca, “I don’t want Google to spread my information around like that.”

Google claims that the changes will not involve any more sharing of users’ data to advertising companies.

In Whitten’s blog post, however, she says “it’s January, but maybe you’re not a gym person, so fitness ads aren’t that useful to you.”

How will Google find more “relevant ads” for you without sharing your information with advertising companies?

“Why do I need advertisements when I Google things anyway?” said junior Ashley Sowa. “If I want to get to the advertiser’s website, I’ll just Google that instead of whatever I searched for.”

The scariest part of the changes is that based on what devices users carry around, Google may even know where users are located. Further proving that Google knows all.

Unfortunately, these changes are inevitable. European regulators from the European Union’s Article 28 Data Protection Working Party attempted to delay Google’s changes, saying they need to review the changes. They felt that the privacy policy could “impact the protection of personal user data,” according to an article on totaltele.com.

Some Congress members are also upset about the changes.

After a meeting with Google representatives, Representative Mary Bono Mack from California said she didn’t thing the Google officials were “very forthcoming necessarily in what this really means for the safety of our families, and our children, and ourselves,” according to an article on eweek.com.

Despite the opposition, Google said that they are still going to implement the changes on March 1.

The only way to avoid them is to stop using Google’s services. And the worst part?

There is no way to stop using Google.