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I'm talking about privacy because it's easy for people to not realise that this is not a privacy setting. I don't know if disabling the personal results toggle

by mimsee 5y ago

I'm talking about privacy because it's easy for people to not realise that this is not a privacy setting. I don't know if disabling the personal results toggle even puts you in to a "neutral" mode of Google since it clearly states at the bottom that: "Some Search results may require additional settings, like Web & App Activity or Location History". Reading more about Web & Web app activity explains it as follows: "If Web & App Activity is turned on, your searches and activity from other Google services are saved in your Google Account, so you may get more personalized experiences, like faster searches and more helpful app and content recommendations."[1] [1]: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/54068?hl=en https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/54068?hl=en Edit: reworded from personalized results to personal results

mattowen_uk 5y ago
I have everything that Google allows me to turn off, turned off. And I rarely search (via Google) when logged in with my Google account, and I still see filtered/tailored results based on my IP location and my interests. I also run uBlock Origin, and Cookie AutoDelete, so Google are going to great lengths here to keep on tracking me. It's now at a stage where if you don't want to be tracked, you should just stop using the Internet.
- sen 5y ago
  I block all Google and Facebook domains at a router level, and haven’t really had many issues. I’m sure there’s sites that don’t work with those blocked but for whatever reason they’re not sites I visit. I get cloud flare captchas occasionally but barely enough to be annoying. I also use a VPN 95% of the time, only turning it off for Netflix occasionally.
  - tgragnato 5y ago
    It is the most practical solution to make sure there are no leaks to G. The most annoying thing is that reCAPTCHA stop working: more website administrator should consider migrating to hCaptcha.
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  No, it's enough to turn off Javascript. Virtually all tracking code is in Javascript.
  - zbentley 5y ago
    Absolutely not. GP was concerned about: > filtered/tailored results based on my IP location and my interests IP location is typically computed server side, based on the originating IP of requests. Your interests are recorded server side, based on what requests were made. "Tracking" in JavaScript is a big problem, and disabling JS does help prevent third party tools from knowing about you, but the discussion here is about first-party tracking: tracking being by Google, whose site you're using.
- crashbunny 5y ago
  are you unique? https://www.amiunique.org/fp https://www.amiunique.org/fp I am.I wonder if there's a plugin to change values to the most common ones, or change them randomly everyday.
- Wowfunhappy 5y ago
  Ironically, the problem may be that you're logged out of your Google account. The privacy settings are saved to your account. I, like you, have turned everything off. I use Startpage for search, but on Youtube, I find I still get personalized recommendations if and only if I accidentally log out. If I'm logged in, I get a depersonalized Youtube page. (Yes this is problematic and I'm not suggesting anything, just explaining.)
  - frosted-flakes 5y ago
    I have YouTube search and watch history turned off. Yet if I watch a video that someone sent me a link to, I will still get that exact video or others related to it in my recommendations afterwards. Normally, only videos that I explicitly save (by upvoting or subscribing to a channel) should alter my recommendations, but clearly Google is still saving something.
    - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
      Huh. Since it sounds like you do vote on videos and subscribe to channels, is it possible Google is actually just making (correct) predictions based on that? I'm just surprised because it really does work for me. But, I make a point of never voting/subscribing/commenting/queuing/etc. And the difference between when I'm logged out and logged in is very stark.
      - frosted-flakes 5y ago
        The videos I'm thinking of that someone sent to me are way outside of what I would normally watch, so seeing that exact video in recommendations and other videos from the same channel immediately afterwards on the home page can't be a coincidence. But most of the time what I watch doesn't affect recommendations, only the odd time. In addition to curating what I want to see with upvotes/subscriptions, I also use the "Not interested" and "Don't recommend channel" buttons heavily. For some reason YouTube always recommends those stupid "meditation music" videos, even though I have never watched one and I always block those channels. Honestly, YouTube's recommendation engine is shite; even when I tell them exactly what I like, it still recommends absolute tripe, and most of what I discover comes from external (personal) recommendations.
- marricks 5y ago
  I have an iPhone and don’t use the Gmail app. For a year or two I got a pathetic email from google saying “email is better with the gmail app!” Pretty sure google was sad I don’t have any of their apps on my phone Point of the story is saying they already won in getting all your data is really what let’s them win. If you use a VPN, which are getting more common, and stay away from using too many Google/Facebook products you’ll do pretty well.
sillysaurusx 5y ago
I think it's silly that people feel this is related to privacy. No, no one is under any illusion that this reduces google's knowledge of you. But rah rah, bang the privacy drum! Privacy is the only possible reason! The dummies need to be informed that google and privacy don't get along! Bah, I'm getting cranky tonight. I'll log off. Good luck with the privacy fight. I mean that genuinely; I don't think anyone really cares, beyond posting a few comments on message boards. Duckduckgo is a nice alternative, but how many programmers actually use it to find answers to programming questions? And even if a few do, I really don't get what the privacy crap is all about here. Google added a feature that we can use to do neutral searches. That's awesome, and they deserve praise for it. But nooooo, the privacy is the ultimate altar.
- the_other 5y ago
  > Duckduckgo is a nice alternative, but how many programmers actually use it to find answers to programming questions? At least one. I’ve been using DDG exclusively for two or three years now. If I’m really stuck, I go straight to StackOverflow.
  - larusso 5y ago
    Also count me in. I switched 4 or 5 years ago and never had much issues finding answers to my programming questions.
  - Gabrys1 5y ago
    Same here. Whenever the results (software related or not) are bad, I try Google search instead, but I can't remember the last time the results from Google were any better (ergo, there's no point in using Google search for me anymore)
  - duncan-donuts 5y ago
    Yeah this is a tired argument from the early days of ddg. Back in the day it was really bad for programming but these days it’s on par with Google at worst and usually better. I’ve used ddg almost exclusively since 2012/2013.
  - 5y ago
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

by mimsee 5y ago

mattowen_uk 5y ago

I have everything that Google allows me to turn off, turned off. And I rarely search (via Google) when logged in with my Google account, and I still see filtered/tailored results based on my IP location and my interests. I also run uBlock Origin, and Cookie AutoDelete, so Google are going to great lengths here to keep on tracking me. It's now at a stage where if you don't want to be tracked, you should just stop using the Internet.

sen 5y ago
I block all Google and Facebook domains at a router level, and haven’t really had many issues. I’m sure there’s sites that don’t work with those blocked but for whatever reason they’re not sites I visit. I get cloud flare captchas occasionally but barely enough to be annoying. I also use a VPN 95% of the time, only turning it off for Netflix occasionally.
- tgragnato 5y ago
  It is the most practical solution to make sure there are no leaks to G. The most annoying thing is that reCAPTCHA stop working: more website administrator should consider migrating to hCaptcha.
hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
No, it's enough to turn off Javascript. Virtually all tracking code is in Javascript.
- zbentley 5y ago
  Absolutely not. GP was concerned about: > filtered/tailored results based on my IP location and my interests IP location is typically computed server side, based on the originating IP of requests. Your interests are recorded server side, based on what requests were made. "Tracking" in JavaScript is a big problem, and disabling JS does help prevent third party tools from knowing about you, but the discussion here is about first-party tracking: tracking being by Google, whose site you're using.
crashbunny 5y ago
are you unique? https://www.amiunique.org/fp https://www.amiunique.org/fp I am.I wonder if there's a plugin to change values to the most common ones, or change them randomly everyday.
Wowfunhappy 5y ago
Ironically, the problem may be that you're logged out of your Google account. The privacy settings are saved to your account. I, like you, have turned everything off. I use Startpage for search, but on Youtube, I find I still get personalized recommendations if and only if I accidentally log out. If I'm logged in, I get a depersonalized Youtube page. (Yes this is problematic and I'm not suggesting anything, just explaining.)
- frosted-flakes 5y ago
  I have YouTube search and watch history turned off. Yet if I watch a video that someone sent me a link to, I will still get that exact video or others related to it in my recommendations afterwards. Normally, only videos that I explicitly save (by upvoting or subscribing to a channel) should alter my recommendations, but clearly Google is still saving something.
  - Wowfunhappy 5y ago
    Huh. Since it sounds like you do vote on videos and subscribe to channels, is it possible Google is actually just making (correct) predictions based on that? I'm just surprised because it really does work for me. But, I make a point of never voting/subscribing/commenting/queuing/etc. And the difference between when I'm logged out and logged in is very stark.
    - frosted-flakes 5y ago
      The videos I'm thinking of that someone sent to me are way outside of what I would normally watch, so seeing that exact video in recommendations and other videos from the same channel immediately afterwards on the home page can't be a coincidence. But most of the time what I watch doesn't affect recommendations, only the odd time. In addition to curating what I want to see with upvotes/subscriptions, I also use the "Not interested" and "Don't recommend channel" buttons heavily. For some reason YouTube always recommends those stupid "meditation music" videos, even though I have never watched one and I always block those channels. Honestly, YouTube's recommendation engine is shite; even when I tell them exactly what I like, it still recommends absolute tripe, and most of what I discover comes from external (personal) recommendations.
marricks 5y ago
I have an iPhone and don’t use the Gmail app. For a year or two I got a pathetic email from google saying “email is better with the gmail app!” Pretty sure google was sad I don’t have any of their apps on my phone Point of the story is saying they already won in getting all your data is really what let’s them win. If you use a VPN, which are getting more common, and stay away from using too many Google/Facebook products you’ll do pretty well.

sillysaurusx 5y ago

I think it's silly that people feel this is related to privacy. No, no one is under any illusion that this reduces google's knowledge of you. But rah rah, bang the privacy drum! Privacy is the only possible reason! The dummies need to be informed that google and privacy don't get along! Bah, I'm getting cranky tonight. I'll log off. Good luck with the privacy fight. I mean that genuinely; I don't think anyone really cares, beyond posting a few comments on message boards. Duckduckgo is a nice alternative, but how many programmers actually use it to find answers to programming questions? And even if a few do, I really don't get what the privacy crap is all about here. Google added a feature that we can use to do neutral searches. That's awesome, and they deserve praise for it. But nooooo, the privacy is the ultimate altar.

the_other 5y ago
> Duckduckgo is a nice alternative, but how many programmers actually use it to find answers to programming questions? At least one. I’ve been using DDG exclusively for two or three years now. If I’m really stuck, I go straight to StackOverflow.
- larusso 5y ago
  Also count me in. I switched 4 or 5 years ago and never had much issues finding answers to my programming questions.
- Gabrys1 5y ago
  Same here. Whenever the results (software related or not) are bad, I try Google search instead, but I can't remember the last time the results from Google were any better (ergo, there's no point in using Google search for me anymore)
- duncan-donuts 5y ago
  Yeah this is a tired argument from the early days of ddg. Back in the day it was really bad for programming but these days it’s on par with Google at worst and usually better. I’ve used ddg almost exclusively since 2012/2013.
- 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

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