Google’s new Account Activity feature sums up monthly user activity

29 Mar 2012

Google has introduced an interesting feature called Account Activity which sums up what users had been doing with Google products each month, including whom they mailed most or which places they had visited etc.

According to analysts, what this points to, in the backdrop of the increasing number of services provided by Google is, the amount of information that Google gathers about users. The monthly Account Activity report would also tell  the amount of time users had spent at home, office or outside, depending on their Google Latitude check-ins.

While, this would be an interesting way to look back at what users had been doing last month, it would also help in keeping a track of users' Google account and allow them to spot any misuse. If users find from their Google account activity report they had signed-in from Nigeria or Guatemala despite the fact they were in India should warn them to alter their password ASAP and take extra security precautions.

Users can receive the report by email after they sign up for it. The tool comes from another tool called Google Dashboard, which provides an even more extensive look at how people use Google products.

The internet search company has changed its privacy policy recently to allow it to link more data collected from its various services.

(See: Google revising privacy policies to personalise services)