Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by terry274
Google has a vested interest to NOT sell your information. They sell advertisements paid for by companys directed to you based on the information they have about you. If the advertisers could get the information Google has about you, they would not need Google. So, yes Google collects a lot of information but they don't sell it.
In short, Google is rich because they sell advertisements, not personal information.
If you believe they are selling personal information, please find me ONE instance of that. One verifiable case of Google selling anyone's personal information.
You way over simplify, and that is ok. Like I said, if you dont care about google knowing all about you, beyond the fact of the data they collect from your email messages and what you search for, more like how your mind works, EVEN WHERE ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN WHERE YOU MOVE YOUR MOUSE, accumulating information of your children, family in return for free use of their stuff, hey that is fine. Maybe, maybe the word selling is over stated, Ill look more into that but I suspect you are correct in that they do not actually sell it, they use it and they do share it with other companies to process it.
Maybe more like UC50 states might be more accurate then the word sell, I think you maybe right on the word sell.
I would challenge anyone to actually read their privacy statement, its pretty darn creepy to me but again, to each his own.
Google Statements =
--"For example, we collect information about views and interactions with ads so we can provide aggregated reports to advertisers, like telling them whether we served their ad on a page and whether the ad was likely seen by a viewer.
We may also measure other interactions, such as how you move your mouse over an ad or if you interact with the page on which the ad appears."
--"If you use our services to make and receive calls or send and receive messages, we may collect telephony log information like your phone number, calling-party number, receiving-party number, forwarding numbers, time and date of calls and messages, duration of calls, routing information, and types of calls."
--"We may also collect information about you from trusted partners, including marketing partners who provide us with information about potential customers of our business services, and security partners who provide us with information to protect against abuse. We also receive information from advertisers to provide advertising and research services on their behalf.
--"We use various technologies to collect and store information, including cookies, pixel tags, local storage, such as browser web storage or application data caches, databases, and server logs."
-- "We provide personal information to our affiliates and other trusted businesses or persons to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. For example, we use service providers to help us with customer support."
--We restrict access to personal information to Google employees, contractors, and agents who need that information in order to process it. Anyone with this access is subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations and may be disciplined or terminated if they fail to meet these obligations."
--"This Privacy Policy doesn't apply to:
The information practices of other companies and organizations that advertise our services
Services offered by other companies or individuals, including products or sites that may include Google services, be displayed to you in search results, or be linked from our services"
____________ Anyway, I think you are right and I am wrong, google does not "sell" your information, they use it. ___________
However if you read this disclosure one would wonder how much Swiss cheese is in all the data that they have on you...
Its all good, I for one, do not think that google is the god almighty of transparency in as much as any corporation. If one is comfortable this all of the behind the scenes data sharing and analyzing on your family, its your choice.
One thing for sure, the typical American has no idea what is going on, they dont read disclosures and the "system" is full of holes.
Its why the EU has far more strict controls.
I dont know of many who read this stuff, ...
https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en-US#infocollect
I honestly don't think any corporation is that trustworthy (apple included - mainly because of their war on "right to repair"). I can understand not liking the way Google's privacy policy reads, however to me all it means is that they're going to send targeted ads toward me. Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes not. Often times it just shows me ads for something I already bought, so I don't think they're paying that close attention. I also enrolled in Google opinion rewards, which they randomly send me surveys asking dumb questions (1-2 of them), I can answer in ten seconds and make $0.25 or so towards app or movie purchases etc... They ask me multiple choice questions about where I've visited recently, then if I paid by debit or other means.... I'm not sure how they don't already know the answer to that because I had my location turned on (if I don't I won't get the surveys). If I really want to be discreet I can always turn off the location with one click in my quick settings and I only need to turn it back on to use Google maps.
So I guess my next question is... If I was as privacy conscious as you why can't I just leave location off, browse in incognito mode, pause my history in YouTube, etc. Which I can do on my Android phone and my PC's?
Edit: What do you use for email for more privacy? I see that they can collect my emails through Gmail. I switched to Gmail from Hotmail like 15 years ago because I was getting so much spam on Hotmail. This is my only active email account now, the way I'm reading my privacy policy is that this is the only thing I can't control their access to (unlike my browsing history, location etc.)
_____Actually you can do the things you mention regarding securing your privacy, lets face it, over 75% of the US population doesnt/has no clue.
I have not researched nor care too regarding googles incognito mode or any of their products but without question you can limit some of it and its a start.
I use Microsoft "hotmail" too. Gosh I have so many "live" accounts and one "outlook" ... never would I be ok to google scanning my emails picking up "keywords" to sell me products.
With that said, as you might have guessed I have been transitioning to private email. Its REALLY simple to have COMPLETELY private encrypted email,
www.protonmail.com (even recommended by Consumer Reports) though I have used them for years. Keep in mind, being its private, they do not scan your emails for information, they do not place ads in their program so the only way they make money is to charge for their service, however, they do have a free package if you do not need much storage, I use one free one and I pay for one.
IN addition to that, if you want a completely free package another option is Apples email system, free to anyone, with a bit more free storage. No ads on Apples system
www.icloud.com
AS far as search engine 75+ percent of the time I am now using
www.duckduckgo.com I will still use google from time to time but I check duckduckgo ALWAYS first. Completely private search engine.
Its gotten so bad even consumer reports reports on the privacy issue. BTW duckduckgo is also recommended by them.
So even though I do not know everything, I do know, google is evil and I do know protonmail is private and I do know duckduckgo is private and have used them much before Consumer Reports even came out with the report on them. (it was cool to for me to see them)
BTW ... for whatever its worth, its really cool to have a civil conversation about this. I dont have all the answers and not an expert but I do know I have the power to limit all this intelligence gathering on US citizens by corporations like google and that is EXACTLY what it is, "intelligence gathering"
I just posted this link in another thread, people will look at this (the ones that actually read it through and watch the video) and find a reason to discount the words from the CEO of one of the most successful technology firms in the world who is warning about this intelligence gathering on you, the USA citizen and citizens of the world...
Not everyone in this world is evil and some companies believe in the "right to privacy" it amazes me how the young and some old no longer care.
Here it is, straight from the horses mouth and yet, some people will dismiss it, even though, its already taking place.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/24/18017842/tim-cook-data-privacy-laws-us-speech-brussels
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A lot of them are like the old Voodoo cards, requiring another card that supports VESA for the primary display.
