If you’ve ever had a bone to pick with Google over privacy violations, as several individuals, companies and countries have, you’ll be glad to see that you have some new tools to help you protect your personal information. Google even has an engineering team called the Data Liberation Front that’s completely dedicated to making it easier for users to add and remove their personal information to and from Google products like Maps, Docs, Gmail, iGoogle, and more.

Some of the most exciting developments in Google’s privacy tool department are the abilities to opt out of data collection for advertising purposes, change web history controls, encrypt searches, and even browse in an “incognito” version of Chrome. If you want to check out the full set of privacy tools, just go to google.com/privacy and click on “Privacy tools” in the left navigation bar. You’ll be able to find out what Google knows about you, manage it, and change any settings that might not currently be giving you the privacy you want. To learn more, read about some of the new privacy tools in the descriptions below.

Google Dashboard

Once you go to the dashboard, you’ll be prompted to enter your Gmail username and password. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to see exactly what Google “knows” about you and change it according to your preferences. Categories include your account, Buzz, calendar, contacts, documents, mail, iGoogle settings, profile, reader, Talk contacts, tasks, and more. For each category, you can read about the Google product or option, read its specific privacy policy and, in some cases, manage sharing of information, edit settings, and change or remove information.

Ads Preferences Manager

With this tool, you can change demographic categories that Google has assigned for you, such as certain types of entertainment that might interest you, books you would be likely to read, computer and electronic equipment you would purchase, and much more. For those of you who want to receive targeted advertising, you can change these categories to more accurately reflect your interests and even add more. If you’d rather not have the ad target on your back, you can remove all categories or opt out of targeted advertising entirely.

Encrypted Search

This one is pretty simple. It just takes you straight to an encrypted version of the Google search engine, which uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) to protect your personal information. By using this version, you’ll be better able to keep your search terms and search results from being intercepted by a third party.

Incognito Mode

Don’t want your browsing activity to be recorded in your history? Chrome’s “incognito mode” is a fun and effective way to browse with increased privacy. Whether you’re planning a surprise party or making a secret gift purchase, going incognito can make sure that your browsing history isn’t recorded and that all cookies are destroyed. Just be aware that even in incognito mode, any downloads and bookmarks are still recorded and can be accessed later. To give it a try, open Chrome and click on the wrench symbol on the toolbar in the upper right-hand corner (just beneath the “X”). Select the third option, “New incognito window,” and you’ll be ready to browse in secret. You can also simply use the “Ctrl+Shift+N” command to open an incognito window from an existing Chrome session. Keep tabs on which windows are incognito by watching for the icon in the upper left-hand corner – it looks like a spy wearing a trench coat with upturned collar, dark glasses, and a hat.

Opt-Outs

You can easily opt out of Google Analytics and Search Personalization by editing your personal settings with these tools. By opting out of analytics, websites won’t know about any hits from you because that information will not be available to administrators. Opting out of search personalization means that your search history doesn’t factor into new search results. Again, to start customizing your Google privacy, browse to google.com/privacy.

This is Guest Post written by Maria Rainier, who is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education and performs research surrounding online degrees. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.