Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956
Google knows a whole lot about you. Here's how to make it forget
Google collects a staggering amount of information about you -- maybe even more than you realize. Google remembers every search you perform and every YouTube video you watch. Whether you have an iPhone ($699 at Amazon) or Android phone, Google Maps logs everywhere you go, the route you take to get there, when you arrive and what time you leave -- even if you never open the app. When you really take a look at everything Google knows about you, the results can be shocking -- maybe even a little frightening. Thankfully, there are a few things you can do about it.
As a spate of data leaks and privacy violations continues to weaken the public's trust in big tech companies, Google has responded by creating a privacy hub that lets you access, delete and limit the data Google collects on you. Navigating all the various settings can get confusing, however, and it's not always clear what you're giving Google permission to do.
What's worse, whenever you make a change that would restrict how much or for how long Google tracks you, Google warns that its services won't work as well without unfettered access to your data. How true that may be isn't very clear.
Despite Google's best efforts to increase transparency, recent revelations that the search giant was secretly sharing users' private data with third-party advertisers have challenged the public's trust in the company, whose Google Home ($99 at Walmart) and Google Nest lines of smart speakers seek to put microphones and cameras in the most private of settings -- your home.
We're going to cut through all the clutter and show you how to access the private data Google has on you, as well as how to delete some or all of it. Then we're going to help you find the right balance between your privacy and the Google services you rely on by choosing settings that limit Google's access to your information without impairing your experience.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday November 04 2019, @04:13AM (5 children)
I'll take your word for it but as of last year it still gave me exactly what I was looking for on the first page 99% of the time and as the first or second result 95% of the time.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday November 04 2019, @04:33AM
It's a fairly recent piece of brain rot. Worst-case is when you're looking for a specific term/phrase that has a common word in it, where Google will return nothing but results for that common word instead of the specific term(s) you want. And before I get a million replies saying "you need to put it in quotes" and all the other stuff, yes, I'm aware of all that, it doesn't help.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 04 2019, @05:30AM (1 child)
Searching for midget porn may deliver broad results that would satisfy most searchers, but specific technical searches demand specific results.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday November 04 2019, @05:51AM
Sorry but it's much more difficult to find a half-remembered scene with a specific midget again than it is to find stackexchange for the five thousandth time for you.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Monday November 04 2019, @08:01AM (1 child)
Google is still better than DDG when it comes to news search, where DDG is pretty much worthless, at least in my country.
On the other hand, Google's general search is, indeed, worthless, as it usually ignores the search keywords (or uses them to derive other, related, keywords, and search for those). As I mentioned elsewhere, if I search for information about company A in a particular area, Google will figure out what that company does, will search for that, and produce results for company B, which is in the same area and produces similar products. Totally worthless, but look at all those hits!
(Score: 2) by driverless on Monday November 04 2019, @12:48PM
Yup, that's exactly what I was referring to. Not sure if the "approximate-suggestion engine" name I used was the best label for it, but it's exactly the process you describe.