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 track 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…
If You Use Google Products
If
you do use Google products, they try to track even more. In addition to
tracking everything you’ve ever searched for on Google (e.g. “weird
rash”), Google also tracks every video you’ve ever watched on YouTube.
Many people actually don’t know that Google owns YouTube; now you know.
And if you use Android (yeah, Google owns that too), then Google is also usually tracking:
- Every place you’ve been via Google Location Services.
- How often you use your apps, when you use them, where you use them, and who you use them to interact with. (This is just excessive by any measure.)
- All of your text messages, which unlike on iOS, are not encrypted by default.
- Your photos (even in some cases the ones you’ve deleted).
If
you use Gmail, they of course also have all your emails. If you use
Google Calendar, they know all your schedule. There’s a pattern here:
For all Google products (Hangouts, Music, Drive, etc.), you can expect
the same level of tracking; that is, pretty much anything they can
track, they will.
Oh,
and if you use Google Home, they also store a live recording of every
command you’ve (or anyone else) has ever said to your device! Yes, you
heard that right (err… they heard it) – you can check out all the
recordings on your Google activity page.
Essentially, if you allow them to, they’ll track pretty close to, well, everything you do on the internet. In fact, even if you tell them to stop tracking you, Google has been known to not really listen, for example with location history.
You Become the Product
Why
does Google want all of your information anyway? Simple: as stated,
Google isn’t a search company anymore, they’re a tracking company. All
of these data points allow Google to build a pretty robust profile about
you. In some ways, by keeping such close tabs on everything you do,
they, at least in some ways, may know you better than you know yourself.
And
Google uses your personal profile to sell ads, not only on their search
engine, but also on over three million other websites and apps. Every
time you visit one of these sites or apps, Google is following you
around with hyper-targeted ads.
It’s
exploitative. By allowing Google to collect all this info, you are
allowing hundreds of thousands of advertisers to bid on serving you ads
based on your sensitive personal data. Everyone involved is profiting
from your information, except you. You are the product.
It
doesn’t have to be this way. It is entirely possible for a web-based
business to be profitable without making you the product – since 2014, DuckDuckGo
has been profitable without storing or sharing any personal information
on people at all. You can read more about our business model here.
The Myth of “Nothing to Hide”
Some
may argue that they have “nothing to hide,” so they are not concerned
with the amount of information Google has collected and stored on them,
but that argument is fundamentally flawed for many reasons.
Everyone
has information they want to keep private: Do you close the door when
you go to the bathroom? Privacy is about control over your personal
information. You don’t want it in the hands of everyone, and certainly
don’t want people profiting on it without your consent or participation.
In
addition, privacy is essential to democratic institutions like voting
and everyday situations such as getting medical care and performing
financial transactions. Without it, there can be significant harms.
On an individual level, lack of privacy leads to putting you into a filter bubble, getting manipulated by ads, discrimination,
fraud, and identity theft. On a societal level, it can lead to deepened
polarization and societal manipulation like we’ve unfortunately been
seeing multiply in recent years.
You Can Live Google Free
Basically, Google tries to track too much. It’s creepy and simply just more information than one company should have on anyone.
Thankfully,
there are many good ways to reduce your Google footprint, even close to
zero! If you are ready to live without Google, we have recommendations for services to replace their suite of products, as well as instructions for clearing your Google search history. It might feel like you are trapped in the Google-verse, but it is possible to break free.
For
starters, just switching the search engine for all your searches goes a
long way. After all, you share your most intimate questions with your
search engine; at the very least, shouldn’t those be kept private? If
you switch to the DuckDuckGo app and extension
you will not only make your searches anonymous, but also block Google’s
most widespread and invasive trackers as you navigate the web.
If
you’re unfamiliar with DuckDuckGo, we are an Internet privacy company
that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal
information online, without any tradeoffs. We operate a search engine
alternative to Google at http://duckduckgo.com (DuckDuckGo Private Search), and offer a mobile app and desktop browser extension to protect you from Google, Facebook and other trackers, no matter where you go on the Internet.
We’re also trying to educate users through our blog, social media, and a privacy “crash course” newsletter.
from https://www.quora.com/What-does-Google-know-about-me/answer/Gabriel-Weinberg
