Is it just me, or have Google’s ambitions stepped up a notch recently? It seems like every time I turn around the company has wormed its way into another part of my life.

Now, I should say at the outset I’ve been a fan of the company for years and a user of many of its services. Each day I rely on its search engine, Gmail, Google News, Google Docs and Google Groups.

I’m also a regular user of Google Earth and Google Maps - enhanced by the amazing Street View service - as well as the very slick Picasa photo application. So far, so good.

In this past week, Google has also released a new internet browser, called Chrome. Billed as being faster and smarter than others, I felt obliged to download it and take it for a run.

I have to say early indications are pretty positive. Sure, it doesn’t like my online banking web site for some reason, but it’s zippy, reliable and intuitive.

But it was later in the week that the first penny dropped. It was a new feature Google has added to Picasa: facial recognition. The latest version of the application automatically scans photos looking for faces it thinks belong to the same person. Google says it’s a faster way to categorise big collections.

OK, so perhaps that not a particularly scary feature. But I still find it a touch unsettling that, as well as having access to my web email and documents, Google can now potentially identify all my friends and family. Misplaced paranoia? Maybe, maybe not.

Then a second penny dropped. Just days ago a US satellite was launched containing a bunch of high-resolution cameras. And guess which company had its logo plastered on the side of the rocket? You guessed it: Google.

The company has exclusive online mapping rights to images taken by the satellite. Its cameras are so good they can recognise objects on the surface of the earth as small as 40cm across. Google Maps and Earth are about to get way more detailed.

So as well as my email, documents, photos and browsing habits, Google will soon have access to highly detailed images of my house, street and city. Facial recognition from space? It could be closer than you think.

So what’s my point in all this? It’s just this uneasy feeling that’s starting to form at the back of my mind. Is it healthy for one company to be collecting so much information about us?

Sure, in individual pieces it matters little – an email here, and a photo there - but pull it all together and Google will soon know more about my life than I do. That’s power.

Is it going to stop me using Google’s services? Not at all. But it does makes you stop and think.