Stop using google! Keep your privacy safe when using search engines! Oh wait, it is unavoidable to protect your privacy from google....Nevermind!
Googles policy on privacy
Googles policy on privacy
Have you every seen an ad that follows you around; Involving something that you may have just searched for? Did you just happen to use google search on a very similar topic that an ad was talking about?
The reason for seeing the same ad multiple times in different places is because you showed interest in it when you used google search. Google recorded that in their database where they make a profile on you. How is that possible you may ask? Well when you make a search on the google search engine, google tracks your IP address, computer address and makes a tracker cookie (probably using even more methods than that!) even if you don't have an account with them! Since there adsense (google ads) is connected to their search engine they share information with each other! Since they have your IP address they make a profile on it of everything you search for.
Avoid this by using a search engine proxy
To avoid the breach of privacy while still using google's amazing search engines I recommend using startpage.com. Startpage uses google's search through a proxy. So you can keep your IP address and whatever you search for private! Startpage allows you to also see images and videos too, You can even visit a website anonymously.
Sadly just doing this is not enough to protect you privacy from google. Their big brother like domination on privacy is very strong, connected to each and every single one of there services. It even goes beyond their products, by even connecting to other products and services!
One Google, To rule them all! The Eye Of google!
Maybe this is why they changed there motto from "don't be evil" to "do the right thing" : So they could become the eye of google!
On march 1st 2013 google merged all their acquisitions, that you may have an account on, together! This means that any services you have with them were you had a separate profile for your gmail, youtube, chrome or any other services they own, now is all one account. Which means they can relay information between all their account to make one big profile on you that they use to know everything about you!
Google + tracks all the intimate details of your life that you give them (much like Facebook)!
Chrome tracks every website you visit for there database, so they don't even have to use their search engine to get your info!
Gmail Scan the content of all of your email sent and received! It even records the email addresses of your correspondents too! There is no delete button on any emails, only an archive button. All drafts are recorded, even words that never were saved as a draft! So even writing to someone who uses Gmail (like me) compromises some of your privacy!
Android has the power of an operating system, Which means it can track everything! Every touch, type, swipe run through the operating system which immediately gives google all of your information while you are online; Even when your offline Android can store the data to upload later on!
Youtube was bought in 2006 for $1.65 billion! Now google can track all the cat videos you watch and ad that to your profile too!
Google Maps They are on millions of web pages, especially businesses! When you visit a site that has google maps on it, they track you right when you load the page!
Google Analytics Is used by the majority of popular website around the world to collect data about who is visiting their websites! Yet most people (even I) don't know how much they are being track with every website they visit! I had no Idea how much control google has over all the internet until I started researching this!
Google Street View has traveled more than a million miles and taken picture of homes and businesses in 48 countries. That is some really good visual info to connect with google maps! Also for cross referencing with googles reverse image search!
Google Glass Yeah, it is a computer mounted to your eye. Responding and recording all visuals and audio! So basically tracking what you say and what others around you say; Also probably tacking what you see!
Widgets Yeah those tiny little widgets embedded into websites, to advertise the importance of your website....yeah you know how it goes with google by this point!
google can track you through other companies services too!
The worst part of all of this is that today I learned (TIL) that you don't even need to be using one of their product for them to track you. This whole time I thought I was partially safe from that by using fire fox, yet I was really wrong!
Firefox, before taking you to each of your destinations, checks to see if your website that you are about to visit is on the google's blacklist, an ever-changing list of about 600,000 websites that Google's bots have decided – sometimes mistakenly – as dangerous.
Safari Also uses this blacklist to check the safety of each website, therefore inevitably sending back all information to google.... again.
Actually any product/service of google's embed or attached into any website, can pretty much track you in anyway they want! This is why google analytics is so effective!
And now it grows into all the letters of the "alphabet!
In 2015 google was re-organized into a subsidiary of a larger holding company known as Alphabet Inc. This is when google officially decided to change their motto from "don't be evil" to "do the right thing"! Mmmmmm I wonder why?
As of December 2016, Alphabet has acquired over 200 companies ~wiki~
What are we going to do today alphabet? Same thing we do everyday google, try to take over the world!
It's all about the profit!
All of this tracking of your personal information, on everything you do leads back to one thing.....The money. All your personal data collected to use on two things!
- Google AdSense In an attempt to monetize their web pages, millions of website owners now sprinkle small ads provided by Google throughout their legitimate content. The ads are, in theory (but often not in practice), related to whatever news story, food recipe or celebrity bio you're reading, making it somewhat likely that you will eventually click on one of them. Okay, I know what you're thinking: When you click on one of those ads, Google's gotcha, right? Not so. Google's gotcha the moment you load a page containing an AdSense ad. When you click on an ad, the company just gets more detailed info. ~US News~
- Google AdWords.As if those little ads weren't enough, Google also now allows website owners to embed targeted Google ads into words scattered throughout their textual content. When you load a page that contains any of those words, Google's gotcha, and when you click on any of those words, Google's got more.~US News~
Illegal Behavior For more profit!
Yeah, google doesn't really care about even following the laws either, because they know they can get away with it; With a slap on the wrist being the only punishment the receive! Then they continue onto their plans of world domination.
Even though google receives all the info they do on safari because of the blacklist they own, they decided they wanted more!
In 2012, Google was fined $22.5 million by the (FTC) Federal Trade Commission for illegally tracking on product users of the Apple's iPhone, iPad and Macintosh computers by essentially hacking Apple's Safari browser. ~US News~
Remember when I was talking about google's street view? It turns out that was not there main way of mining info when using that technology!
For a long time, though, the real treasure trove for Google was not in the photos but in the information its Street View teams were skimming from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks: passwords, emails, browsing histories, financial information and more. After the Federal Communications Commission discovered in 2010 that Google had been collecting information this way for at least three years in more than 30 countries, it secured a promise from company officials to discontinue the practice and fined Google $25,000 (yes, that's all) for impeding its investigation. More recently, the attorneys general of 38 states settled a lawsuit against Google for its Street View snooping for $7 million. ~US News~
in 2012 Google was facing legal threats from six European countries over privacy!! This was the time period when they merged all of their services together into one account!
Google could face fines from six European countries' privacy regulators, including the UK and Germany, after refusing to reverse changes to its privacy policies made in March 2012.
So Is all this tracking on pretty much the majority of all the internet illegal also, Right? Well according to their Terms of Service agreement, which incorporates their Privacy Policy, When you use any of their product or service (even if you are not aware of using them) you agree for them to track.
Then it goes on to say that they can pretty much do whatever they want with that information! So by using the internet, you are basically going to have to unknowingly agree to their terms of service when you run into one of their product or services embedded into a website (which is a high majority)!
I had no idea my research would lead to many hours of reading to finish in a pathetic conclusion about the impossibility of staying completely private. If your still using google search then switch to start page. Besides that maybe we should just all use TOR to protect our privacy? But if the government owns the majority of the exit nodes, then they will be the ones spying on you. Wow my eyes hurt, whatever, here is a meme to express how I feel!
Thanks for viewing my post!
This post has been ranked within the top 80 most undervalued posts in the second half of Jan 09. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $4.84 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 09 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
Thanks for the plug!
Wow, this was a buttload of information! As a fiction writer, I often pride myself on being on some sort of watch list. I'm joking... kind of.
Admittedly, there are certain searches that I refuse to do because I don't want the NSA , TSC, FBI or CIA showing up at my door, but the reach that google assumes is outrageous. How deep is that rabbit hole anyway?
HAha, yeah! it kind of is, maybe to much! That is funny, making up outrageous stories that might make you on a watch list :p
Yeah me too! Especially without using a proxy search. Yeah after researching everything I posted about I was shocked how much more reach they have than I even knew! I really don't know how far it goes, all these things happen behind closed doors O_O
recently, I read about this one from another post in steemit:
https://www.ecosia.org/
you may want to give it a try
Mmmm interesting, Thanks for the link. I will give it a read!
You're welcome
^_^
Nice post @ballinconcious, but I think no matter what you use on the internet somebody sees it! You can't hide!
Well obviously; That is what the internet is for! But there is a difference between someone seeing it and someone tracking/recording it in such massive quantities!
Yes, you are right! Cheers and thanks for this amazing post!
Indeed, but you are right too! Your welcome, thank you for reading ^_^
I will give it a substancial read , I was using mostly privatelee to search , showed the finger to chrome as soon as it emerged , still hate that and use adblock , some other menial apps too , but probably am "compromised" as shit , tried tor and basically almost went paranoid at that point :D . Then scratched most of the bullshit an went back to youtubing for the rest of my days :D , yeah cookies we carry around , and I've seen on friends pc's how much the ads are catered to what they are doing. This web business is really getting people caught in and drained by the spiders, I wouldn't be supreised if google becomes a country , they can probably buy half of Europe :D
Any recommendations are welcome , Thank you for the information Those last pieces are new to me .
Also check my 4th post and tell me what you think about the subject at hand.
And yeah we need some cyber security an people don't care they js say whatever . .
https://steemit.com/life/@j3dy/water-and-light-d4-challenge30-play-2
Thanks for reading! Yeah that is exactly what startpage.com is, a proxy search engine using google. What private search do you use? Good chrome is invasive! Don't worry, the majority of all of us are compromised! Yeah almost tried TOR and began to set it up but then became distracted! lol Yeah me to I hate the ads and it still happens to me and now it make sense why after my research! Yeah google is literally like Pinky and the brain except actually successful with their world domination
Your welcome, I am still researching. I would start by using an encrypted email! It is harder for me to transition since I have so many things connect to my Gmail.
Yeah I will check out your post. Thanks for reading mine!
Your welcome to any of my posts , I'm using privatelee , spelled like that , actually experimenting with search engines is a great idea, you get different results, It's also fun to se how metrics work , when you delete your cookies you will get different YT suggestions, It's like they are trying to dig into your brain :D , back to google again ,they have too much power I realised that about 5-10 years ago then aroun 3 started using adblock and maaan it's awesome , you have the remote , you have the channels , no cuts :D , but yeah pages look awesome with just space there , like they are supposed to , anytime I see a page with ads now I'm so annoyed even angry they exist , It's something about ads I hate , for me they have no place, not in their current state, with them hanging over buildings, bringing in mega malls and super markets and everybody loves it, more and more of the same, clothes ice cream and movies :| :| .
TOR is nice , I have hop in Linux but I have no experience no coding skills, no in depth computer knowledge to know how things work in reality, but privacy is a must on the internet, this is also my only downside to steemit , that and the fact it mirrors real world , so it's like second life ,
kind of surprised your post didn't get much views , but it's normal i guess :| , also you are welcome to any of my posts and any of the resteems on the "blog" although my posts are special . :D
Got some more addons on the browser for privacy ,turns out there are many ways to b compromised basically, There are some flash cookies that don't expire, your activities are logged , if you try to circumvent that you can get blacklisted as a suspect and if somebody wants to he can break in on multiple levels or just overlay your logs with activities and still find you and such and such , rabbit holes basically, also google has some public libraries that they use to rout traffic through so it's another venue , yeah communications are hard to maintain on a digital level if you don't want anyone to know about it , Android is shit, for the most part,
Yes, Add-blocker is a great one. Also I have been hearing about one called something badger, it removes tracker cookies that are placed on you computer!
Wow, I didn't not know their were flash cookies that never expired; That is essentially like malware or a virus! Yeah , I know some site block you from accessing it if you don't allow the tracker cookies, etc.
Yeah, google is becoming so powerful that they are almost on par or above any other internet or computer related entity! It is freaky. Yeah I wouldn't trust android now even if it was the best!
Tweeted on @Ballinconscious
https://twitter.com/BallinConscious/status/819253912800755713