Google has announced today that it will be adding a new page on its website, allowing users to have access to all of its product policies and resources across all of its products, including YouTube and Google Chrome. The site, named the "Transparency Center" is set up as area which will give greater visibility of these documents to the general public.
The site takes all of Google's existing resources and collates them in an easy to view and digest way, providing the ability for anyone to view and access information on areas such as:
- The policy development process
- Policies by product or service
- Reporting and appeal tools
- Transparency reports
- Google's principles for privacy and AI
Google is also making its AI policies and principles readily available on the site, which is currently very relevant, given how much AI is leading the headlines in recent months. With its own recent push into the sector alongside leading competitors such as Microsoft, it may give people the ability to find a bit more about what happens behind the scenes.
Its original AI principles which were launched in 2018, are all available and tailored to each platform. It aims to make the terms, rules, and guidelines around AI easy to understand for users, developers, and creators across all of its products.
Furthermore, Google's transparency reports, which were originally launched over ten years ago with a view to show how government policy influences information online, are now readily available through the platform, with the background behind them also visible and insight into how the policies are enforced across products.
The other key feature highlighted by Google is that there is a dedicated page to help users access relevant tools for reporting harmful content, and making appeals across several services such as YouTube. The appeals process is designed with an aim "to ensure due process, efficiency and transparency for users appealing our enforcement decisions."
