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Has Google ever disclosed exactly what data they collect, what they do with it, who can look at it, etc? We "know" that Google takes privacy "seriously", but th

Has Google ever disclosed exactly what data they collect, what they do with it, who can look at it, etc? We "know" that Google takes privacy "seriously", but that is a faith based position.

halflings 7y ago
It's all here, and you can delete it (including batch delete by period or source): https://myactivity.google.com/ https://myactivity.google.com/ This page includes other types of data (e.g videos you upload to youtube or mails in Gmail): https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy
- la_barba 7y ago
  Thanks for linking to the policy document. They have this convenient line that allows them to do anything. "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." >It's all here, and you can delete it (including batch delete by period or source) That scratches the surface, but an iceburg hides underneath. For one, how do we know its all the data? For another, there is no indication as to who has seen it or how Google uses it. That is my point. Google has never detailed those things..I suppose for legal reasons. A user has a right to know exactly what they are trading with Google in exchange for free services. They can then make up their own mind if they think its worth it. I'm just picking on Google here, because its a soft target, but it should apply to any service. We need new privacy regulations to formalize this.
  - justinclift 7y ago
    Sounds like they just needed to spin up one "affiliate" and provide the data to that for data mining / etc purposes. Anyone deleting the data "Google" holds would have zero effect on the affiliate, while giving some people the feeling Google was doing the right thing.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > It's all here, and you can delete it So they claim, but I don't know why anyone should trust them about that. Aside from that, though, what about the data collected from me? I have no Google account, but they're collecting data from me anyway. Same as Facebook.
romwell 7y ago
Actually, Google has. [0] And I can't vouch for all of Google, but regarding location data, Google has been pretty transparent regarding which data is collected and stored; papers like NYT covered it extensively - see [1]. And Google also gives you clear ways to delete this data, as referenced in that NYT article [2]. And moreover, Google has been consistently on track to store less private data. Example: location data is going to be auto-deleted for users that want that, as of this month[3]. Maps now gets an incognito mode[4]. >but that is a faith based position. Hope the links I referenced will help dispel this notion. Google does take privacy seriously. (Disclaimer: I work for Google. The opinions expressed here are mine and not of my employer; etc - what I said is public knowledge.). [0]https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en-US https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en-US [1]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorvault-location-tracking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorv... [2]https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en [3]https://mashable.com/article/google-auto-delete-location-history-activity-data/ https://mashable.com/article/google-auto-delete-location-his... [4]https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535657/google-incognito-mode-search-youtube-maps-private-io-2019 https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535657/google-incognito-...
- la_barba 7y ago
  Pre-Disclaimer: I don't mean to only pick on Google here, it applies to any company that collects such a vast amount of personal data on users. Also.. nothing personal :) >Actually, Google has. In extremely vague terms, yes. I want to see an itemized list. For e.g. At company X, this is what we collect: 1) Your Name, age, location, DOB. 2) Your location is sent to COmpany X every 10 minutes 3) Your IP is tracked per-session 4) All this data is linked to your profile 5) Any thing you type in the search bar is sent to a company X server 6) After anonymizing (if we do it) this is what your data looks like 7) We never delete any of the above for the following reasons etc,etc,etc >And moreover, Google has been consistently on track to store less private data. The default should be zero/as little as possible collection of data. From what you've said it seems like people can opt-out of some data collection, but its vague as to the specific nature of what data is still being collected versus what isn't. >Hope the links I referenced will help dispel this notion. Google does take privacy seriously. Unfortunately they don't. I won't dispute your second claim.

Has Google ever disclosed exactly what data they collect, what they do with it, who can look at it, etc? We "know" that Google takes privacy "seriously", but that is a faith based position.

halflings 7y ago

It's all here, and you can delete it (including batch delete by period or source): https://myactivity.google.com/ https://myactivity.google.com/ This page includes other types of data (e.g videos you upload to youtube or mails in Gmail): https://policies.google.com/privacy https://policies.google.com/privacy

la_barba 7y ago
Thanks for linking to the policy document. They have this convenient line that allows them to do anything. "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." >It's all here, and you can delete it (including batch delete by period or source) That scratches the surface, but an iceburg hides underneath. For one, how do we know its all the data? For another, there is no indication as to who has seen it or how Google uses it. That is my point. Google has never detailed those things..I suppose for legal reasons. A user has a right to know exactly what they are trading with Google in exchange for free services. They can then make up their own mind if they think its worth it. I'm just picking on Google here, because its a soft target, but it should apply to any service. We need new privacy regulations to formalize this.
- justinclift 7y ago
  Sounds like they just needed to spin up one "affiliate" and provide the data to that for data mining / etc purposes. Anyone deleting the data "Google" holds would have zero effect on the affiliate, while giving some people the feeling Google was doing the right thing.
JohnFen 7y ago
> It's all here, and you can delete it So they claim, but I don't know why anyone should trust them about that. Aside from that, though, what about the data collected from me? I have no Google account, but they're collecting data from me anyway. Same as Facebook.

romwell 7y ago

Actually, Google has. [0] And I can't vouch for all of Google, but regarding location data, Google has been pretty transparent regarding which data is collected and stored; papers like NYT covered it extensively - see [1]. And Google also gives you clear ways to delete this data, as referenced in that NYT article [2]. And moreover, Google has been consistently on track to store less private data. Example: location data is going to be auto-deleted for users that want that, as of this month[3]. Maps now gets an incognito mode[4]. >but that is a faith based position. Hope the links I referenced will help dispel this notion. Google does take privacy seriously. (Disclaimer: I work for Google. The opinions expressed here are mine and not of my employer; etc - what I said is public knowledge.). [0]https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en-US https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention?hl=en-US [1]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorvault-location-tracking.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorv... [2]https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3118687?hl=en [3]https://mashable.com/article/google-auto-delete-location-history-activity-data/ https://mashable.com/article/google-auto-delete-location-his... [4]https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535657/google-incognito-mode-search-youtube-maps-private-io-2019 https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/7/18535657/google-incognito-...

la_barba 7y ago
Pre-Disclaimer: I don't mean to only pick on Google here, it applies to any company that collects such a vast amount of personal data on users. Also.. nothing personal :) >Actually, Google has. In extremely vague terms, yes. I want to see an itemized list. For e.g. At company X, this is what we collect: 1) Your Name, age, location, DOB. 2) Your location is sent to COmpany X every 10 minutes 3) Your IP is tracked per-session 4) All this data is linked to your profile 5) Any thing you type in the search bar is sent to a company X server 6) After anonymizing (if we do it) this is what your data looks like 7) We never delete any of the above for the following reasons etc,etc,etc >And moreover, Google has been consistently on track to store less private data. The default should be zero/as little as possible collection of data. From what you've said it seems like people can opt-out of some data collection, but its vague as to the specific nature of what data is still being collected versus what isn't. >Hope the links I referenced will help dispel this notion. Google does take privacy seriously. Unfortunately they don't. I won't dispute your second claim.