sunrat Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 All about how Google tracks you and harvests your private information by Gabriel Weinberg, post on Quora: https://qr.ae/TdOWxy Quote Gabriel Weinberg, I run a search engine (Duck Duck Go). What does Google know about me? Did you know that unlike searching on DuckDuckGo , when you search on Google, they keep your search history forever? That means they know every search you’ve ever done on Google. That alone is pretty scary, but it’s just the shallow end of the very deep pool of data that they try to collect on people. What most people don’t realize is that even if you don’t use any Google products directly, they’re still trying to discover as much as they can about you. Google trackers have been found on 75% of the top million websites. This means they're also trying to track most everywhere you go on the internet, trying to slurp up your browsing history! Most people also don’t know that Google runs most of the ads you see across the internet and in apps – you know those ones that follow you around everywhere? Yup, that’s Google, too. They aren’t really a search company anymore – they’re a tracking company. They are tracking as much as they can for these annoying and intrusive ads, including recording every time you see them, where you saw them, if you clicked on them, etc. But even that’s not all… 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted February 26, 2020 Share Posted February 26, 2020 they keep your search history forever? Unless you went in and turned these things off, which I did. I go here https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity and I see No Activity because I've turned everything off. Note: I don't use chrome on my computers or android devices which also helps. Read this https://www.fastcompany.com/90350359/7-google-privacy-settings-you-should-revisit-right-now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cluttermagnet Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 There was a time maybe 10-15 years ago when I blithely used Google search and didn't think much about it at the time. I have long since moved to Start Page, which supposedly anonymizes my searches, still carried out by the Google engine. Lately I have also been using DuckDuckGo and one or two others... Gmail was a bridge too far for me. I refused to get started with it. Zero regrets on that decision... I studiously avoid anything remotely connected with Google. Still, it is clear they have got the goods on me to some degree, likely through Amazon and Ebay. I can tell that at least those two entities have learned a lot about my tastes and buying habits... I briefly owned a smart phone- like for about a day. When I found out how Google infested that OS in that Galaxy was, I promptly returned the phone and got a refund. Maybe one day I will try an Iphone. I hear they are perhaps slightly less cavalier with user data. Somehow I doubt they could have resisted to temptation to monetize me... This subject overall disgusts me far beyond words... Clutter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 On 2/26/2020 at 10:00 AM, zlim said: Unless you went in and turned these things off, which I did. I KNOW you're not naive enough to think that just changing a preference in your Profile at Google hinders them in any way from continuing to snarf your data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlim Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Ever little bit helps. I don't get suggestions when I surf and if I search and look for portable batteries, the next day I'm not presented with ads for things I recently searched for as I've heard other complain about. Since google owns YouTube, unless you never watch any videos, google will have info on you. Even if I got off the internet, my data is being sold (hospitals, insurance companies, pharmacies, college alumni associations). We get calls for things asking for me or my husband from companies we have never had dealings with. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Yup. Yup. And Yup. We are ALL being scraped for our data in many, many different ways by many different entities. However, Google is the worst of the bad ones, in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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