6 ms·

I might switch to DDG or StartPage now.

jdimov10 10y ago
Why now? How did this page change your mind? If anything, it's a big positive. All web portals collect data about you - Google at least shows you what they know and give you some amount of control over it.
- alphadevx 10y ago
  > All web portals collect data about you That's factually incorrect: https://duckduckgo.com/about https://duckduckgo.com/about
  - nostrademons 10y ago
    It makes me wonder how they deal with DoS attempts and abuse; most large sites need to at least store IP addresses so they can identify if a user or group of users is trying to take down the site and block them.
- 58028641 10y ago
  I did not realize google recorded which links you clicked. Edit: I knew they recorded it. I did not know they associated it with your profile.
  - adam12 10y ago
    ?? How did you not know this? That is basically the backbone of their business.
  - Jemmeh 10y ago
    That seems like quite a natural thing to collect to improve their search algorithm at the very least. "Are people finding what they're looking for?" basically.
    - dredmorbius 10y ago
      It's not necessary to run trackers on everyone, all the time. Sampling works. Randomly selecting accounts for inclusion and immediately dissociating that account identity from the data would provide substantively useful data. Much the same way as it is possible, on the basis of 100 - 300 randomly selected G+ profiles to gain a strong sense of what the level of public activity of all 2.2 billion profiles (in use as of early 2015) was. Sure, you can increase accuracy, somewhat, by bumping up that sampling count to 50,000 profiles. As I did. Though that (and monte-carlo resampling of subsets of the profiles) substantiated the trends which were clear from the first 100 or so results. Or you can bump up the value to 500,000, as Stone Temple Consulting did. Which again, largely re-substantiated the results I'd found. Google receives something on the order of one billion searches per day. Sampling a very small percentage of those would provide very accurate results, at far smaller processing cost, and moreover, at far smaller data disclosure risk. Data are liability. Even if the concern were, say, edge cases regarding specific terms and the like, that would be possible to explore with targeted random sampling (stratified random samples). All very-well-established statistical techniques. https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/naya9wqdemiovuvwvoyquq https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/naya9wqdemiovuvwvoyquq
      - Jemmeh 10y ago
        Well just making sure people are finding what they want is only part of it. Since so much of their revenue is from ads, the better their targeting, the more money they make. If they have all this data on a person, they can target on a per person basis. And that money is probably talking louder than any care about liability from data based on how much they're collecting. They're a business, they have to have revenue in some way. I'm making some assumptions, please correct me if I'm wrong.
  - sp332 10y ago
    Go to any Google results page, right-click a result and copy the URL. Paste it and see what's really in there. It's not the actual link you wanted, instead it's a link to a Google server with lots of metadata about your search that redirects you to the link you wanted after recording everything about your search.
  - tonylemesmer 10y ago
    if you use Firefox there is an addon called Google Redirects Fixer [1] [1] https://matagus.github.io/remove-google-redirects-addon/ https://matagus.github.io/remove-google-redirects-addon/
  - WayneBro 10y ago
    They haven't been tracking which links I click for the past five years or so since I've been running an extension like "Don't track me Google" - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dont-track-me-google/gdbofhhdmcladcmmfjolgndfkpobecpg?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dont-track-me-goog... The reason I started running that extension is because I i was sick of waiting for google.com to redirect me.
- hueving 10y ago
  Google is only showing a small bit about what they know so it's misleading to think they are a leader in this regard. There is nothing here about all of the sites they know you visit because of ad tracking, etc.
buremba 10y ago
IMHO that's not the proper reaction for this news, everybody already knows Google collects data about you.
- icebraining 10y ago
  everybody already knows I've learned to know that's never true, and even when people "know", often they don't actually know in a non-abstract sense.
- rmchugh 10y ago
  It makes it a lot more concrete for me. I can see not only all of my search activity, browsing etc, but also that my partner has done on our shared tablet. It's creepy. But it did make me aware of a Chrome setting to disable activity tracking. I'll change that as soon as I get home.
  - tokenizerrr 10y ago
    > I can see not only all of my search activity, browsing etc, but also that my partner has done on our shared tablet. You could pull up the (local) browser history and see exactly the same information there.
SquareWheel 10y ago
I'm surprised privacy folks aren't happy with this tool. It shows exactly what they collect, lets you edit it, or disable features granularity. Is it just surprise that they are in fact collecting this information? Because I thought that was pretty well known.
- vmateixeira 10y ago
  Shows exactly what they collect? You think? Edit, maybe delete? From your view, you mean... or from their databases?
  - SquareWheel 10y ago
    Neither. It becomes unassociated with your account. It still provides aggregate data to them, but respects your privacy. "From better commute options in Maps to quicker results in Search, the data we save with your account can make Google services more useful to you. Using Activity Controls, you can decide what gets associated with your account and pause the collection of specific types of data — like your searches and browsing activity, the places you go, and information from your devices." https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  The message is decidely mixed. On the one hand, yes, it's a level of transparency. And there are some controls. Exceptionally cumbersome controls, particularly if you manage multiple accounts. Quite notably lacking in the ability to entirely disable multiple services -- I have no use or wish for Blogger, YouTube, Maps, or other activity tracking. I don't want Google tracking my location data at all, in any way -- not GPS, not WiFi connections, not cell towers. Nada. I can't say that. I cannot globally disable or deny specific permissions from Android applications (Android 5.x, supposely 6.x offers slighly improved controls). I've written elsewhere about how the entire Android app store is a complete toxic cesspit and mess. So, yes, Google give you some insight on what information they gather, which is better than many other services. They offer exceptionally poor controls over it. And the company has been either exceptionally passive-aggressive in re-enabling tracking of data users have denied it, and re-establishing or linking services they've expressely stated they don't want re-established or linked (see my comments elsewhere in this thread), or they're manifestly incompetent to manage what they've built. I'm not sure which possibility concerns me more. Keep in mind that Google: 1. Already are the number-one producer and software provider for personal pervasive hackable broad-spectrum surveillance devices. Which is to say, Android-based phones, tablets, notebooks, and other products. 2. Are service provider to a tremendous number of third-party services and companies. I can shun use of Google but still need to fight against its email servers, web tracking tools, fonts, and javascript servers, just off the top. 3. Put cameras directly on peoples faces and got all flustered when it turned out that the people those cameras were pointed at didn't like the idea. Google Glassholes. 4. Are planning to put a live, always-on, 24/7/365 microphone with remote processing in homes, offices, businesses, and other locations. 5. Are planning to produce "driverless cars" which will operate as either privately-owned or business-service vehicles, yet another venue in which my privacy is directly compromised in circumstances well outside my control. The absolute mandate for Google to operate without the slightest hint of misplaced trust is extreme. I frankly don't see how they can meet it, and predict spectacular failure.

Why now? How did this page change your mind? If anything, it's a big positive. All web portals collect data about you - Google at least shows you what they know and give you some amount of control over it.

alphadevx 10y ago
> All web portals collect data about you That's factually incorrect: https://duckduckgo.com/about https://duckduckgo.com/about
- nostrademons 10y ago
  It makes me wonder how they deal with DoS attempts and abuse; most large sites need to at least store IP addresses so they can identify if a user or group of users is trying to take down the site and block them.
58028641 10y ago
I did not realize google recorded which links you clicked. Edit: I knew they recorded it. I did not know they associated it with your profile.
- adam12 10y ago
  ?? How did you not know this? That is basically the backbone of their business.
- Jemmeh 10y ago
  That seems like quite a natural thing to collect to improve their search algorithm at the very least. "Are people finding what they're looking for?" basically.
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    It's not necessary to run trackers on everyone, all the time. Sampling works. Randomly selecting accounts for inclusion and immediately dissociating that account identity from the data would provide substantively useful data. Much the same way as it is possible, on the basis of 100 - 300 randomly selected G+ profiles to gain a strong sense of what the level of public activity of all 2.2 billion profiles (in use as of early 2015) was. Sure, you can increase accuracy, somewhat, by bumping up that sampling count to 50,000 profiles. As I did. Though that (and monte-carlo resampling of subsets of the profiles) substantiated the trends which were clear from the first 100 or so results. Or you can bump up the value to 500,000, as Stone Temple Consulting did. Which again, largely re-substantiated the results I'd found. Google receives something on the order of one billion searches per day. Sampling a very small percentage of those would provide very accurate results, at far smaller processing cost, and moreover, at far smaller data disclosure risk. Data are liability. Even if the concern were, say, edge cases regarding specific terms and the like, that would be possible to explore with targeted random sampling (stratified random samples). All very-well-established statistical techniques. https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/naya9wqdemiovuvwvoyquq https://ello.co/dredmorbius/post/naya9wqdemiovuvwvoyquq
    - Jemmeh 10y ago
      Well just making sure people are finding what they want is only part of it. Since so much of their revenue is from ads, the better their targeting, the more money they make. If they have all this data on a person, they can target on a per person basis. And that money is probably talking louder than any care about liability from data based on how much they're collecting. They're a business, they have to have revenue in some way. I'm making some assumptions, please correct me if I'm wrong.
- sp332 10y ago
  Go to any Google results page, right-click a result and copy the URL. Paste it and see what's really in there. It's not the actual link you wanted, instead it's a link to a Google server with lots of metadata about your search that redirects you to the link you wanted after recording everything about your search.
- tonylemesmer 10y ago
  if you use Firefox there is an addon called Google Redirects Fixer [1] [1] https://matagus.github.io/remove-google-redirects-addon/ https://matagus.github.io/remove-google-redirects-addon/
- WayneBro 10y ago
  They haven't been tracking which links I click for the past five years or so since I've been running an extension like "Don't track me Google" - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dont-track-me-google/gdbofhhdmcladcmmfjolgndfkpobecpg?hl=en https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dont-track-me-goog... The reason I started running that extension is because I i was sick of waiting for google.com to redirect me.
hueving 10y ago
Google is only showing a small bit about what they know so it's misleading to think they are a leader in this regard. There is nothing here about all of the sites they know you visit because of ad tracking, etc.

buremba 10y ago

IMHO that's not the proper reaction for this news, everybody already knows Google collects data about you.

icebraining 10y ago
everybody already knows I've learned to know that's never true, and even when people "know", often they don't actually know in a non-abstract sense.
rmchugh 10y ago
It makes it a lot more concrete for me. I can see not only all of my search activity, browsing etc, but also that my partner has done on our shared tablet. It's creepy. But it did make me aware of a Chrome setting to disable activity tracking. I'll change that as soon as I get home.
- tokenizerrr 10y ago
  > I can see not only all of my search activity, browsing etc, but also that my partner has done on our shared tablet. You could pull up the (local) browser history and see exactly the same information there.

SquareWheel 10y ago

I'm surprised privacy folks aren't happy with this tool. It shows exactly what they collect, lets you edit it, or disable features granularity. Is it just surprise that they are in fact collecting this information? Because I thought that was pretty well known.

vmateixeira 10y ago
Shows exactly what they collect? You think? Edit, maybe delete? From your view, you mean... or from their databases?
- SquareWheel 10y ago
  Neither. It becomes unassociated with your account. It still provides aggregate data to them, but respects your privacy. "From better commute options in Maps to quicker results in Search, the data we save with your account can make Google services more useful to you. Using Activity Controls, you can decide what gets associated with your account and pause the collection of specific types of data — like your searches and browsing activity, the places you go, and information from your devices." https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html https://privacy.google.com/take-control.html
dredmorbius 10y ago
The message is decidely mixed. On the one hand, yes, it's a level of transparency. And there are some controls. Exceptionally cumbersome controls, particularly if you manage multiple accounts. Quite notably lacking in the ability to entirely disable multiple services -- I have no use or wish for Blogger, YouTube, Maps, or other activity tracking. I don't want Google tracking my location data at all, in any way -- not GPS, not WiFi connections, not cell towers. Nada. I can't say that. I cannot globally disable or deny specific permissions from Android applications (Android 5.x, supposely 6.x offers slighly improved controls). I've written elsewhere about how the entire Android app store is a complete toxic cesspit and mess. So, yes, Google give you some insight on what information they gather, which is better than many other services. They offer exceptionally poor controls over it. And the company has been either exceptionally passive-aggressive in re-enabling tracking of data users have denied it, and re-establishing or linking services they've expressely stated they don't want re-established or linked (see my comments elsewhere in this thread), or they're manifestly incompetent to manage what they've built. I'm not sure which possibility concerns me more. Keep in mind that Google: 1. Already are the number-one producer and software provider for personal pervasive hackable broad-spectrum surveillance devices. Which is to say, Android-based phones, tablets, notebooks, and other products. 2. Are service provider to a tremendous number of third-party services and companies. I can shun use of Google but still need to fight against its email servers, web tracking tools, fonts, and javascript servers, just off the top. 3. Put cameras directly on peoples faces and got all flustered when it turned out that the people those cameras were pointed at didn't like the idea. Google Glassholes. 4. Are planning to put a live, always-on, 24/7/365 microphone with remote processing in homes, offices, businesses, and other locations. 5. Are planning to produce "driverless cars" which will operate as either privately-owned or business-service vehicles, yet another venue in which my privacy is directly compromised in circumstances well outside my control. The absolute mandate for Google to operate without the slightest hint of misplaced trust is extreme. I frankly don't see how they can meet it, and predict spectacular failure.