Redesigned Google Hub Demystifies Privacy Controls

Google is taking steps to address concerns about the way it collects the personal information of its users.

The Internet company is reportedly simplifying its privacy controls for its more than 1 billion users, redesigning the "my account" hub where all of Google's key privacy controls can now be found.

Those privacy controls were previously spread across far-flung sections of Google's website with few explanations of the pros and cons of adjusting each setting.

Account holders can now undergo a check-up that will break down which of the company's various services are gathering information about them.

Most people want to get a better grip on their privacy in a world where all their digital activity can now be tracked and recorded from search engines to smartphones to online social networks.

A recently released survey by the Pew Research Center found 93 percent of adults in the U.S. consider being in control of their personal information to be important.

Yet only 9 percent of the respondents felt they had very much control over their information and 50 percent said they had little or no control over their data.

Google products include its dominant search engine, as well as YouTube, the Chrome browser, Gmail, Google Maps and the Android operating system for mobile devices.

Google analyzes people's interests and habits to show them ads about products most likely to appeal to them. Ads generate most of Google's revenue, which totaled $66 billion last year.