Google sent a 13-page letter to Congress Monday explaining changes to its privacy policy that the search giant announced last week.

Those changes are scheduled to go into effect for Google’s 350 million global users on March 1.

The letter is a response to a letter Congress sent to Google last week, which requested more specific knowledge about Google’s new privacy policy and practices.

“Last week we heard from members of Congress about Google’s plans to update our privacy policies by consolidating them into a single document on March 1,” Google director of public policy Pablo Chavez wrote in a blog post Tuesday. “Protecting people’s privacy is something we think about all day across the company, and we welcome discussions about our approach.”

According to that blog post, Google’s updated privacy policy came for two reasons. First, Google wanted to make its privacy policy “simpler and more understandable.” Second, they wanted to unify all of Google’s services under one privacy policy to improve the experience of users who use multiple Google products. By pulling together all Google services under one policy roof, the company can make the overall Google experience more streamlined for users of multiple services.

In the letter to Congress, Google acknowledges users’ concerns about its new privacy policy, but claims instead the issue is “whether users have choices about how their data is collected and used.”

SEE ALSO : Google’s Privacy Update : What You Need to Know

The search giant goes on to make the following assurances :

1. Google will “continue to focus on providing transparency, control, and security to our users.”
2. Google users will “continue to have choice and control.”
3. Changes to the privacy policy will not affect users’ existing privacy settings.
4. Users’ privacy settings will continue to remain private.
5. Google will not be collecting any new or additional data about its users.
6. Users can still use “as much or as little of Google as they want.”
7. Google will continue to offer ways to move data to other services.

The letter written by Congress on Jan. 26 was signed by Cliff Stearns (R-FL), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Joe Barton (R-TX), Ed Markey (D-MA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Dianne DeGette (D-CO), G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Jackie Speier (D-CA).

“Google’s consolidation of its privacy policies potentially touches billions of people worldwide,” wrote Congress last week. “As an Internet giant, Google has a responsibility to protect the privacy of its users. Therefore, we are writing to learn why Google feels that these changes are necessary, and what steps are being taken to ensure the protection of consumers’ privacy rights.”

“We’re not collecting more data about you,” Google policy manager Betsy Masiello wrote in a blog post after the privacy policy changes were announced last week. “Our new policy simply makes it clear that we use data to refine and improve your experience on Google–whichever products or services you use.

“This is something we have already been doing for a long time. We’re making things simpler and we’re trying to be upfront about it. Period.”

Google’s response to Congress is embedded below :

Google Letter Re Privacy Policy

Do you think Google’s announced privacy policy changes are a good idea ? Should Congress investigate ? Let us know in the comments below.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, alija

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