How much does Google know about you? Probably a lot more than you realize. According to the founder of search engine DuckDuckGo, even if you do not directly use Google products, their trackers are found on 75% of the top million websites. “(Google isn’t) really a search company anymore – they’re a tracking company.” And they follow you wherever you go online.
If you also use Google products, they know a lot more about you than just what websites you visit. Google knows who you are, where you have been, who your friends are, what you like and dislike, your future plans, and your online life. This infographic details some of the way Google accumulates data about you, including through Google searches, Chrome browsing history, Gmail, ads clicked, YouTube searches, videos watched and uploaded, Google Fit, and more.
These links will show you some of what Google knows about you:
- Your advertising profile at http://www.google.com/settings/ads/ determines what ads they will show you.
- Android mobile devices send location data to Google. You can view your location history at https://maps.google.com/locationhistory.
- You can view every Google search you have ever made at https://www.google.com/history/.
- Want a monthly report of the Google services you are using? Request it at https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard.
- The Account activity page lists all of the apps that have access to your data. You can view the permissions granted and make changes at https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions.
- You can export all of your data from Google here: https://www.google.com/takeout.
- View all of the YouTube searches you have done here: https://www.youtube.com/feed/history/search_history
What do they do with all this information? According to Gabriel Weinberg of DuckDuckGo, “The result of all that tracking is that 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, trying to influence your behavior.” But it is more than just ads. “On an individual level, lack of privacy leads to putting people 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 as we’ve unfortunately been seeing multiply in recent years.”
If you want more control over your data, you can use this tutorial to learn how to view and delete the data Google has collected on you.
Additionally, you might want to limit the amount of data Google collects on you in the future. This is easier said than done, but VisualCapitalist suggests:
- Adjusting privacy settings
- Using private browsing
- Using a different browser (not Chrome) for search
- Turning off your location settings
- Deleting your Google accounts
- Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
