4 ms·

I'm pretty sure EFF is wrong here. Google's Web History is basically a public version of your search history. You can turn on or off whether you want Google t

I'm pretty sure EFF is wrong here. Google's Web History is basically a public version of your search history. You can turn on or off whether you want Google to rub your face in its knowledge about you. But it retains that knowledge even if you turn off the rub-in-your-face personalization part. Google retains a complete history of your interactions with them, which is not subject to this Web History setting, not deletable, not removable, and will be shared across its properties. Short reply: This doesn't remove Google's search history of your searches at all.

captaincrunch 15y ago
Sure made me "feel" better about removing it though!
ecocentrik 15y ago
Yeah, I've had this feature disabled since it launched and google still seems to return "personalized" search results. If you don't want google to track your behavior, you probably shouldn't be logged into google in the first place.
- alok-g 15y ago
  Do they not track your behavior if you are not logged in (genuinely asking), using cookies or IP address for example? Sorry if you find this to be a naive question.
  - abailin 15y ago
    I doubt they would be using your IP address to track anything, since a house full of people can be behind the same IP address. I don't know if they use cookies to track you if you're not logged in, but to be safe I would use incognito mode if you are worried about that.
jacquesm 15y ago
Interesting. Can you prove that? If so, this could be a very hot potato. If google states "Your web history is currently empty" and "web history is paused" but they continue to track your searches in a way that is tied to your identity then I think they're in breach of several laws. They could chose to withold the ability to disable tracking. But by giving you the impression that they're not tracking you I think they're definitely across the line if they continue to track you in spite of that. > Google retains a complete history of your interactions with them, which is not subject to this Web History setting, not deletable, not removable, and will be shared across its properties. Is a pretty heavy accusation to make without hard proof. And if it turns out to be true I'd hate to be the one to have to explain to the EU regulatory body how "your search history is empty" can co-exist with "we have a complete history of your activity". If it is a history on my activity then my search history can not be empty and if it is empty then google should no longer have it either.
- jellicle 15y ago
  Uh, this is not a secret. Google says specifically that web history is a way to personalize your search results, nothing more. Web history is an add-on to Google's normal tracking. "You can delete information from Web History using the remove feature, and it will be removed from the service. However, as is common practice in the industry, and as outlined in the Google Privacy Policy, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users." This refers you to the main privacy policy, which says very clearly that Google stores every request you make along with cookies that uniquely identify your account. http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ Web History is an add-on tracking system. Google does not permit opting-out of Google's regular tracking system, which at one point stored every request you had ever made to any Google server, but which I think now may be semi-anonymized after a couple of years, if I remember their changing policies correctly. Although, the Privacy Policy makes no such promise, so perhaps they do still keep every request ever made in Google's existence. Google absolutely has a perfect record of every interaction you've had with them for the past year or two. Even if Web History is "off".
  - 15y ago

captaincrunch 15y ago

Sure made me "feel" better about removing it though!

ecocentrik 15y ago

Yeah, I've had this feature disabled since it launched and google still seems to return "personalized" search results. If you don't want google to track your behavior, you probably shouldn't be logged into google in the first place.

alok-g 15y ago
Do they not track your behavior if you are not logged in (genuinely asking), using cookies or IP address for example? Sorry if you find this to be a naive question.
- abailin 15y ago
  I doubt they would be using your IP address to track anything, since a house full of people can be behind the same IP address. I don't know if they use cookies to track you if you're not logged in, but to be safe I would use incognito mode if you are worried about that.

jacquesm 15y ago

Interesting. Can you prove that? If so, this could be a very hot potato. If google states "Your web history is currently empty" and "web history is paused" but they continue to track your searches in a way that is tied to your identity then I think they're in breach of several laws. They could chose to withold the ability to disable tracking. But by giving you the impression that they're not tracking you I think they're definitely across the line if they continue to track you in spite of that. > Google retains a complete history of your interactions with them, which is not subject to this Web History setting, not deletable, not removable, and will be shared across its properties. Is a pretty heavy accusation to make without hard proof. And if it turns out to be true I'd hate to be the one to have to explain to the EU regulatory body how "your search history is empty" can co-exist with "we have a complete history of your activity". If it is a history on my activity then my search history can not be empty and if it is empty then google should no longer have it either.

jellicle 15y ago
Uh, this is not a secret. Google says specifically that web history is a way to personalize your search results, nothing more. Web history is an add-on to Google's normal tracking. "You can delete information from Web History using the remove feature, and it will be removed from the service. However, as is common practice in the industry, and as outlined in the Google Privacy Policy, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users." This refers you to the main privacy policy, which says very clearly that Google stores every request you make along with cookies that uniquely identify your account. http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ Web History is an add-on tracking system. Google does not permit opting-out of Google's regular tracking system, which at one point stored every request you had ever made to any Google server, but which I think now may be semi-anonymized after a couple of years, if I remember their changing policies correctly. Although, the Privacy Policy makes no such promise, so perhaps they do still keep every request ever made in Google's existence. Google absolutely has a perfect record of every interaction you've had with them for the past year or two. Even if Web History is "off".
- 15y ago