Google tracking

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vexed87
Posts: 1521
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:02 am
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Google tracking

Post by vexed87 »

I just learnt about google's My Activity page where you can review the information google collects on you. Particularly notable if you use/have used android phones, or any of their web products. I was surprised by the volume of data they had about my location/travel history amongst other things. In the wrong hands, it could be particularly dangerous, so I've cleared the whole thing and suspended all tracking features.

I don't think Google themselves will be doing anything particularly nefarious with my data, but then again, you never know who will get their hands on it in the future...

I figured some of the folks here who are fond of their online anyonomity may find this interesting:
https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity

TheRedHare
Posts: 202
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 4:40 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Google tracking

Post by TheRedHare »

Ah yes, I learned about this several months back. Super creepy stuff!

enigmaT120
Posts: 1240
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:14 pm
Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Google tracking

Post by enigmaT120 »

I like it that Google Maps, when my address is typed in, shows my neighbor's house across the canyon.

I just tried to look at that Myactivity page and Google thinks I'm somebody else. :-) I did not log in under a different account, though I do have one.

Scott 2
Posts: 2824
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:34 pm

Re: Google tracking

Post by Scott 2 »

I was pleased to find no data logged. I turned all that tracking stuff off years ago.

I do wonder how much of it they actually keep, but just hide from display.

BRUTE
Posts: 3797
Joined: Sat Dec 26, 2015 5:20 pm

Re: Google tracking

Post by BRUTE »

all of it

black_son_of_gray
Posts: 504
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 7:39 pm

Re: Google tracking

Post by black_son_of_gray »

Also worth keeping in mind that Google continues to track you even when you are signed out (if you have an account), so even if you have opted out of tracking within the account, they STILL track you for various things.

vexed87
Posts: 1521
Joined: Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:02 am
Location: Yorkshire, UK

Re: Google tracking

Post by vexed87 »

Indeed, I use DuckDuckGo as my default search engine and can recommend it to anyone looking for an alternative. I also recently dropped my gmail account in favour of a custom domain with fastmail.

cmonkey
Posts: 1814
Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2014 11:56 am

Re: Google tracking

Post by cmonkey »

Startpage.com acts as a Google proxy so you get Google results without Google tracking.

I have a startmail.com account. It's something like $60/year. I've had a good experience with them.

BeyondtheWrap
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 3:38 pm
Location: NYC

Re: Google tracking

Post by BeyondtheWrap »

I barely use my Google account, so there are huge gaps of time in my activity log. The searches correspond in time to the few times a year I check my Gmail or log in to YouTube.

EDIT: Forgot about my Google Analytics account at work that I never log out of. FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU...

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