Google launched what they call “Google Dashboard“. In essence it is a place where you can see explicitly which information about you (your user account) Google has stored. Additionally the dashboard provides abilities to change settings related to the different information – such as turn off sharing etc. Essentially this provides a more transparent way of finding what Google knows about you. Take a look at the video embedded for more explanations on the Google Dashboard.

So, the system isn’t very revolutionary – it probably isn’t going to be the “new youtube”. However what is interesting is why Google made this. Why is Google interested in providing you with this information? For one several users may just use it to turn off or delete information in a far easier way – which is not of Googles interest. So why take this risk? Well, I think it’s because Google users are becoming more suspicious about what Google stores. In their lack of knowledge on this the users turn over to competitors which may provide them with less quality services. The quality of the product is thus less important than the insight into how the product is provided, for instance which information is stored about you. I think this is the reason why information transparency is essential in modern, complex enterprises – where the lack of insight into how the enterprise works is a crucial parameter for the customers to choose the enterprise. One enterprise I believe could benefit from this easy information transparency is hospitals. Complex, almost magical, enterprises where the “customers” often lack trust and insight in what is actually happening.

What do you think?