Google ad tracking gets far more personal as company drops bans on how it uses data

Google's ad tracking data has been extended – potentially to watch over much of your life. Until recently, the site had important restrictions on the way that it could use your data. And perhaps one of the most important ones was the fact that Google worked hard to keep a massive database of web-browsing records separate from the personal information that it stores about people. Because of its huge range of products, Google knows a lot about specific people: for most internet users, it likely has their name, their addresses and a range of other personal information. And through its DoubleClick advertising network it has a huge set of information about people's web browsing history.