Since its incorporation in 1998, Google has become so much more than a search engine.

A mailbox, dictionary, encyclopedia, telephone, social network, library, calendar, map, a wallet and a keychain, plus YouTube and so much more, Google has amassed a collection of sites and resources and wrapped them into one.

We never even imagined that something like this would exist, so we certainly didn't recognize any threat.

But threatened is exactly how users felt this week upon learning of the company's changes to privacy policies and terms of service.

That update, which the company will implement on March 1, combines more than 60 separate privacy policies (excluding Google Books, Google Wallet and Google Chrome, which will keep their privacy policies, but may still be integrated) into one. And there's no option to opt out.

"Our new Privacy Policy makes clear that, if you’re signed in, we may combine information you've provided from one service with information from other services," writes Alma Whitten, director of privacy, product and engineering, in a post.

"In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience."

The company says that the changes, which take place on March 1, will "create a beautifully simple, intuitive user experience across Google."

As for user protections, Google says those won't change. It promises not to share your information with outsiders — but now that Google has taken over so much of the market, selling data to other companies isn't an issue. It can just be passed on to its subsidiaries for free.

Though you can't opt out of the new privacy policies, you do still have the option to close your account. Google is committed to data liberation, so you can export your information to other services.

As Rob Pegoraro said, "'Google' is not a synonym for 'the Internet'; you can use other services." Like Netscape for email, WordPress or Tumblr for blogging, Flickr rather than Picasa for photos.