We live in a world where we leave a piece of ourselves online whenever we browse or scroll through anything. Whether we like it or not, there is no denying the fact that a shadow version of ourselves gets left in the realm of the internet.
It might comfort the loneliest of people to know that they aren’t as forgotten as they think they are. Google knows them better than most people at the expense of their privacy.
It is no secret that the tech giant stores a massive amount of information on you. Data includes everything, i.e., from everything from the place of your employment to something as bootless as what you had for dinner last night.
Most of the information you collect is used to target ads and create a profile for you according to your likes and dislikes.
Why does Google store information?
Some other reasons Google gives for collecting information include:
- Registration purposes: Just like the case with any other online service, Google receives data on you when you first sign up. The information collected includes basic things such as your name and age.
- Marketing: As stated in their privacy policy, Google stores your data to show you ‘personalized ads.’ This allows Google to target ads that you are most likely to click on and buy.
However, users can opt-out of personalized ads by changing their settings.
- To better their service: Google stores information to maintain and modify the user’s experience and develop new features.
On their privacy policy, Google makes it very clear that despite its reasons for monitoring and storing your data, it doesn’t sell any of it to third-party sources.
Google maintains that all the data is collected used mainly to target data and that the security of its millions of users is a key priority. However, data stored on servers are still vulnerable to hackers and other people with malicious intent attacks.
What information does Google collect?
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the reasons Google cites for storing and packaging your personal information, you might be wondering about what kind of data Google has on you.
Through Google, many services include Google Photos, Gmail, Hangouts, Maps, and other connected apps. The information collected can be divided into four broad sections:
Your online presence
Perhaps the most apparent data that Google collects is regarding your online life.
Google has an enormous amount of information, specifying each website you’ve ever visited and every single ad you’ve ever clicked on.
Websites you’ve visited
Google keeps tabs on every site you’ve visited in great detail. From the time you’ve spent on a particular site to the posts you’ve liked and disliked- the tech giant knows it all.
Your browsing patterns/habits
Along with the websites you’ve visited, Google also has a deep understanding of your browsing habits which includes:
- All the apps you’ve downloaded from the Google Play Store and the Chrome Web Store.
- The changes you’ve made in the browser settings.
- All the websites you’ve bookmarked
- All the passwords you’ve saved to chrome
- All the email addresses, phone numbers, and contacts you’ve collected
- The number of Gmail conversations you’ve had
- The number of Google searches you’ve made
- What you’ve written in the search bar
Who you are
With help from features such as facial and voice recognition and intuitive searching, Google has a perfect idea of who you are- both on the inside and the outside:
What you look like
With help from facial recognition, Google knows what you look like. Google photos have built-in facial recognition in them, enabling Google to single your face out from many other people.
What you sound like
The inclusion of voice recognition in Google devices, through the Google assistant, allows the site to have a pretty clear understanding of what you sound like. The site keeps all of your audio commands, as well as your voice recordings.
What you believe in
We’ve all, at one point or another, searched Google for a politician we support or for help in some religious matter. Well, through your browsing patterns and search history, Google stores all of this sensitive data and is fully aware of the fact that you might be Christian or Muslim and who you’re most likely to vote for in the election.
How healthy you are
Google also actively tracks how healthy or unhealthy you might be through GoogleFit. GoogleFit allows Google access to how many calories you burn each day to the fitness level you aspire to reach.
Your personal details
Through information collected via Google’s many services and features, the site has a pretty accurate idea of what makes you, well, you.
By tracking your online activity, Google knows what languages you speak and about that rash that has just started to appear on your back.
Every location you’ve been to
Arguably, Google’s best tracking is location-based, thanks to rapid developments in location recognition.
Apps such as Google Maps make it easy for the site to track every place you’ve set foot in, where you spend most of your time, and what restaurant you frequent the most.
Home and Office
Android phones use services that Google, along with GPS, has to offer and can interpret with accuracy where you live and work.
It may only take Google Now, a similar service to Maps, just three days to calculate exactly where you live.
Places you visit
Other than your home and office, Google probably knows about the places you visit frequently.
If you’ve got a favorite grocer that you frequent, or if you visit your grandmother often, chances are Google knows the addresses to these locations too.
Places you’ve traveled
In addition to the places you frequent, Google also knows about the countries you’ve visited.
Not only that, but the website knows about the hotel you were staying at and all the famous spots you visited, along with the exact time, right down to the second, of your arrival and departure.
What your likes and dislikes are?
One of Google’s main perks includes personalized user experience, with search results and advertisements targeted towards you specifically.
Whether you like it or not, Google might know you better than your own best friend:
Food, books, and movies
We’ve all searched for a spoiler-free review of the latest episode of our favorite show, and we’ve all searched for the pdf version of our favorite books.
Google knows all of this information regarding our likes and dislikes.
Furthermore, Google owns YouTube, which means that Google also has a thorough knowledge of the kind of entertainment you’re interested in.
Your shopping habits
Through Google Shopping, the website is also made aware of your preferences in shopping. It knows everything from the brands you like to the amount of money you spend on clothes.
Moreover, based on interpreting your shopping patterns and browsing the history, Google also knows about the choices you might make in the future and whether or not you’ll buy the laptop that you’ve been saving for.
How to prevent Google from tracking you
After coming to terms with the amount of information Google has on you, you might be feeling a bit wary of the massive tech corporation.
However, you need to look no further; as mentioned below are some ways in which you can prevent Google from tracking and monitoring you.
- Use a VPN. A Virtual Private Network hides your IP address and prohibits Google from tracking your location as well as encrypting all of your data.
- Use the incognito mode on browsers. Many browsers, including Google Chrome, offer a private browsing option that doesn’t store any information in your search history.
- Change your location settings. Turn off location reporting from your settings to prevent Google from following you around wherever you go.
- Try using an alternative browser and search engine. To stop Google from surveying you at all times, try opting for an anonymity-based browser such as Tor and a search engine such as DuckDuckGo.
- Delete your Google account. If you want to go rogue and prevent Google from tracking you forever, delete your Google accounts for the ultimate solution.
Parting words
The ease that Google brings into our lives can’t be denied, but its constant tracking of every move you make on the internet raises a cause for concern.
Try using Google with VPNs for maximum protection to ensure your privacy and security.
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About the Author
Rebecca James is an IT consultant with forward thinking approach toward developing IT infrastructures of SMEs. She writes to engage with individuals and raise awareness of digital security, privacy, and better IT infrastructure.
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