Google has a long history of tracking user activity, and the introduction of its Chrome operating system later this year is sure to follow suit. While we know that it’s being built off of Linux, one big thing we don’t know is how its terms of service will differ from those found in other Google products, and what kinds of user data it will be collecting. Based on the company’s track record of watching and monetizing user data, it could be anything from which applications you’re using, to all the information that’s coming in and out of your computer.

What to expect

Layers of data sharing. It’s safe to assume that there will be many built-in ways to “share” some or all of your personal information with Google. Where the company’s approach may differ from its other Web products is that it can get a far broader sense of what you’re doing off its own properties, and even when offline.

Google typically has an all-or-nothing approach when it comes to what types of personal data it can harvest. When it comes to operating systems, however, a lot more of that information is localized. Google may offer a way to select certain parts of your application library, or hard disk that cannot be indexed or tracked in a similar fashion to what it does with its desktop search program.

Lots of toggles. To manage all these security and privacy options in one place it’s likely there will be an extensive settings panel that lets users track what they are and are not sharing. Google may go so far as to make this more transparent with some sort of task bar that lets you change it on the fly, just like it’s done with its privacy mode in the Chrome browser. Just imagine being able to open and use certain applications without the OS keeping track of you ever using them, the same way it treats visiting certain sites.

A deep usage tracking and reporting system. One of the most exciting (or potentially creepy) parts of this will be Google’s approach to tracking how users are interacting with its OS. The company spends a considerable amount of time and resources on tracking user experience on its sites both with extended betas, and internal research studies. Having that same kind of tracking system baked into the OS can give Google a very simple way to see what’s working and what’s not.

As such, Google is likely to take a more extensive approach than Microsoft, which has a more limited system for tracking user activity on Windows. Users can opt in to a “customer experience improvement program” for Office, while Windows users have the option of sending information to Microsoft when applications or the entire operating system crashes. Google could go as far as keeping track of how long you keep your machine running at a time, or what times of day you use certain applications in order to create battery-saving hardware profiles.

More details about the Chrome OS, including privacy and licensing information are likely to be unveiled later this year when Google makes the code available as open source.

via What will Google’s Chrome OS watch you do? | Webware – CNET.