Even Google engineers are not in sync with regards to its privacy control

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

This is funny, In a released documents, it shows that even Google engineers themselves shows frustrations on how Google collects the data, and the lack of controls over it.

Unsealed documents here: https://www.azag.gov/media/interest/state-v-google-notice-filing-exhibits

Zip file: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2020-08/Googles_Notice_of_Filing_Exhibits.zip

"Location off should mean location off, not 'except for this case or that case,'" a Google engineer wrote in an email thread on Aug. 13, 2018. "The current UI feels like it is designed to make things possible, yet difficult enough that people won't figure it out."

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-court-docs-raise-concerns-on-geofence-warrants-location-tracking/

Of course Google lawyers try to block it, but without success.

I put it here to that newbies to as much as stay away with Google and it's G-products. And who would forget this, Google accused of secretly feeding personal data to advertisers.

So if you have a privacy concerns, then if you can, used other options.

[mk4]

It's not really that surprising to be honest. I think it's pretty safe to assume that most of Google's engineers are actually just following orders on what to build from the higher ups.

With that said, I really hope Google(and Facebook) faces more and more antitrust class action lawsuits. I just wish the congress would ask more questions that actually made sense. Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6lWCoihobU

[erikoy]

I think most of us has been using google products from our smartphones(devices) to software and application. Google had this all for its consumers and I think privacy avoiding concerns would be difficult because of these things around unless you live in the mountains and does simple living with no gadgets and internet.

In my case, I am not actually scared of these privacy issues unless it affects my daily living like being dependent on it that much. I think privacy concerns should not be worried to  its users. Being cautious still must be observe to avoid hacking/phishing applications or malware.

[mk4]

I think most of us has been using google products from our smartphones(devices) to software and application. Google had this all for its consumers and I think privacy avoiding concerns would be difficult because of these things around unless you live in the mountains and does simple living with no gadgets and internet.

I'm personally using some software that has privacy concerns to a certain extent, but since a few years ago, I've tried my best to stay away from Google as much as possible. On the top of my head, YouTube is the only Google product I'm using right now, because unfortunately there's literally not a single competitive alternative. I heavily suggest people to follow suit and sort of "de-Google" their life.

In my case, I am not actually scared of these privacy issues unless it affects my daily living like being dependent on it that much. I think privacy concerns should not be worried to  its users. Being cautious still must be observe to avoid hacking/phishing applications or malware.

Ah, the classic and extremely-flawed "I have nothing to hide" argument. https://www.ted.com/talks/glenn_greenwald_why_privacy_matters

[20kevin20]

If those engineers truly cared for the privacy at Google, they would've left their jobs long time ago. They're working for a probably very good paycheck tho, and even without them Google will find other workers willing to do their job. Anything related to this massive corporation is privacy-flawed at this point. They've been able to maliciously make everything so convenient for us while recording as much data as possible from us at the same time, monetizing it, selling it and using it for their own benefit.

On the top of my head, YouTube is the only Google product I'm using right now, because unfortunately there's literally not a single competitive alternative. I heavily suggest people to follow suit and sort of "de-Google" their life.

I have been successfully using Invidious as a YT replacement for a long time. Not the perfect alternative, but better than YT anyway. It's basically just a YT player with privacy in mind: https://invidio.us/

Unfortunately, it closed down only 3 days ago. I'll leave here the list (from their page) of alternative instances for they close the website down entirely:
    invidious.snopyta.org
    invidious.ggc-project.de
    invidious.13ad.de
    yewtu.be
    invidious.fdn.fr
    invidious.toot.koeln
    invidiou.site
    yt.iswleuven.be
    vid.mint.lgbt
    watch.nettohikari.com

There's also this alternative: https://freetubeapp.io/

[tbct_mt2]

Google began their companies as a data collection company and grows up to be the biggest company in search engine branch. They do know how to do it well (data collection). Believe in them or don't believe in them, you as customer have to take care of your privacy and protect your data. I know the convenience when people enter info into Google spreadsheet and use it everywhere but the negative side is you have to beware of risk of such use case.

IP will be lost, anonymity will be lost.
Your personal data will be lost (by Google or by hackers) if you put your personal things into Google spreadsheet (and other cloud storage services like Dropbox). If you use it, use it for non-important things.

[Insanerman]

I put it here to that newbies to as much as stay away with Google and it's G-products. And who would forget this, Google accused of secretly feeding personal data to advertisers.

So if you have a privacy concerns, then if you can, used other options.

This isn't really related to crypto and how to help beginners in general, hence this fits off on the Off-Topic Board.

But then, it's really common nowadays that there are no privacy. You kept using this device made by Huawei, you are using this Apple device, or you are using Google products. Nothing are different. Most of the companies nowadays, even Facebook and their data issue recently, there's no such thing as private life. Most tech companies especially Google only wants to make things/life easier for its users. Hence, even the slightest and most private data they can have and can use for their system's functionality, they'll really get it as long as they found it useful (lol nothing is useless for them). Therefore, privacy is near to be impossible nowadays.

[hugeblack]

Even users do not worry about their privacy, even if they find an unknown application stealing their data, they will provide it to it in exchange for faster search options, or features such as some filters and others.
The person who cares about his privacy turns off most of the tracking features and stops using all Google products.

[OgNasty]

“Do no evil” went out the window a long time ago at Google.

[mk4]

Even users do not worry about their privacy, even if they find an unknown application stealing their data, they will provide it to it in exchange for faster search options, or features such as some filters and others.

Pretty much. The old "nothing to hide" argument is still frequently being used by people. Not only that, what's worse is that a lot of people don't even care(or are ignorant) of their security. People doing careless stuff like installing shady .APKs on their phones and shady .EXE files on their computers.

[lovesmayfamilis]

We must all practice basic digital hygiene to avoid becoming slaves to commercial organizations. Mozilla reports that user identification can be done by checking the browser profile. The visit history is visible to third parties and websites.
Also, every third site sees complete information about the user.
Therefore, talking about Google espionage separately is no longer relevant. You can play hide-and-seek for a long time, hoping for your anonymity. But in the end, we will still lose.
Experts advise disabling JS scripts in browsers, but then most sites become inaccessible.


Why We Still Can’t Browse in Peace:
On the Uniqueness and Reidentifiability of Web
Browsing Histories
https://www.usenix.org/system/files/soups2020-bird.pdf


Fingerprinting the Fingerprinters:
Learning to Detect Browser Fingerprinting Behaviors
https://umariqbal.com/papers/fpinspector-sp2021.pdf

[NotATether]

~

It's true that the large API Javascript provides to web developers can be abused by some sites to scape information it doesn't need to function properly. We don't really have a way of telling which sites do this offense, because nobody made a list of them.

It should be enough to block the Google Analytics website in your browser using an ad-blocker or proxy rule pointing it to a 0.0.0.0 route to stop most sites from tracking you, but there are legitimate reasons for using a sevice like Google Analytics. I use it on my website to measure how much traffic it gets per month.

[libert19]

They have progressed somewhat since 2k18, they are now giving 'automatic delete' option which was not the case earlier. Lawsuits really do help, if you don't stand for your rights, these corps won't stop milking you.

[noormcs5]

I think most of us has been using google products from our smartphones(devices) to software and application. Google had this all for its consumers and I think privacy avoiding concerns would be difficult because of these things around unless you live in the mountains and does simple living with no gadgets and internet.

In my case, I am not actually scared of these privacy issues unless it affects my daily living like being dependent on it that much. I think privacy concerns should not be worried to  its users. Being cautious still must be observe to avoid hacking/phishing applications or malware.

Every one is using google product. If you are using a n Android phone then the first thing you do is to login into your gmail to access play store and other services. Google tracks your privacy and location and there is no way to avoid it. This data may not be useful for google but they could sell it to the one who knows how to exploit this information.

[FIFA worldcup]

Engineer don't have power to change direction of the company, only shareholder and some influential people could.

If those engineers truly cared for the privacy at Google, they would've left their jobs long time ago.

Only to be replaced with other people who don't even think about privacy.

People tend to do anything for the job even if they don't 100% agree with it. It's difficult to assume that google workers will quit their higher paying jobs only because they are not align with the google privacy control. They may have difference of opinion but they will continue with the google.

[lovesmayfamilis]

People tend to do anything for the job even if they don't 100% agree with it. It's difficult to assume that google workers will quit their higher paying jobs only because they are not align with the google privacy control. They may have difference of opinion but they will continue with the google.

You are right, it is very difficult to completely abandon Google services. But at least you can limit their capabilities. To increase your privacy, there are several ways to disable all tracking trackers from Google.
I like the ungoogled-chromium browser, which has Google tracking services disabled in all respects.
You can try this browser yourself by downloading it from GitHub.
https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium

And also for those who do not understand the settings, you can offer another browser iridiumbrowser that prevents the automatic transmission of data about user activity.

https://iridiumbrowser.de/
https://github.com/iridium-browser/iridium-browser

I think Google employees also hate to be constantly monitored. And who else, if not them, use browsers that work with better privacy.