Be careful, Google knows more about you than you can imagine!

[Raja_MBZ]

This is creepy; I'm sure that I never turned on anything named as "Location History":



"Explore Timeline" gives me a list of about 37 places that I visited in 2017-18!

Should we stop using Android?

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[mdayonliner]

Well it sucks. They are stealing our information without even asking us and reality is you can not do anything about it or can you?

Should we stop using Android? Roll Eyes

What do you want to use? IOS?

Question is - can you afford not to use android or IOS?

Welcome to the centralized corporate world. Everything is legal here once you are one of the fortune 500.

[Raja_MBZ]

Well it sucks. They are stealing our information without even asking us and reality is you can not do anything about it or can you?

Should we stop using Android? Roll Eyes

What do you want to use? IOS?

Question is - can you afford not to use android or IOS?

Welcome to the centralized corporate world. Everything is legal here once you are one of the fortune 500.

True; even though we're aware that these services are dangerous for a number of reasons, we cannot just stop using them. The situation looks similar to closed-source centralized exchanges. Right now, you cannot afford to trade on open-source decentralized exchanges as they're too crappy to be used. However, the question is, "when will the world understand the power of decentralization and stop using such centralized services?" I guess it'll only take about 5 years (by that time, we'll have a lot of good and well-developed decentralized options available).

[CristianOff]

Sorry mister but did you get up now?
I don't know if you are from the USA but in Europe the GDPR was introduced
which allows you to decide what information companies can collect about you.
While Google may have all the information of how I used my smarphone and where
I've been before 25th May 2018, I can guarantee that they do not know anything
about me since then.

Oh and by the way, did you guys notice that 'free companies' start charging since
they can't sell your data anymore? Why does YouTube have now a payment plan?
Are we going to see Google charging users based on number of searches?
Did I mention how WhatsApp will be introducing ads in the near future?

[LTU_btc]

The Big Brother is watching you. I checked history of my phone location and it's empty, because I have location history turned off. I only can see current location of my phone. Despite that I have location history turned off, Google probably still knows where I've been today, yesterday or month ago.
I don't know why, but I'm not so concerned about my privacy. Maybe because I'm not very important person who have many things to hide. Offcourse, these privacy issues is coming more serious eventually, but it gives some benefits. Just one example - what if I lose my phone one day or someone will steal it? I would be able to see my lost phone location on Google Maps, lock my phone or just delete all data in my phone without having it in my hands. If you want to have benefits like this one, you have to pay price of privacy.

[jhongzjhong]

What are you so alarmed with it?
Did you try to check if that email is really legitimate? You should have checked that.
And why does Google needed you to see your timeline if their interest is to keep/store your data for commercial purposes?
Before Google gets your information, there's an agreement that you need to be legally agreed. Don't worry and don't feel anxious about it.

[TryNinja]

Did you try to check if that email is really legitimate? You should have checked that.

It is legit.

And why does Google needed you to see your timeline if their interest is to keep/store your data for commercial purposes?

Because "it's cool" to see where you've been through the whole year.

Before Google gets your information, there's an agreement that you need to be legally agreed. Don't worry and don't feel anxious about it.

And those say that they can use your data to through you targeted ads.

[gentlemand]

I'm so miserly with battery and data that 99% of the time my phone is in airplane mode and certainly no GPS. I mainly use it as a book reader and take the occasional photo. I don't want to talk to anyone with it. I'm sure that doesn't stop them attempting to scoop up info where they can.

It's the covert listening that intrigues me most. There are lots of people who are adamant that the things they discuss out loud in passing near their phones turn up in ads a short time later.

[countryfree]

Hey! You can fight!
On my smartphone, mobile data is turned off, and it has always been like this.
Then, Contacts, Gmail, Google, Maps and plenty other apps are disabled.
It just take some time to learn how to fine tune your phone, and google won't know that much about you.

[cabalism13]

Well it sucks. They are stealing our information without even asking us and reality is you can not do anything about it or can you?

Actually there is. Use an anfroid or an IOS then dont even think about connecting to the internet. Never use it as in Never.

Well, if only you can hold back for not connecting Just use the old style of communication : SMS

Welcome to the centralized corporate world. Everything is legal here once you are one of the fortune 500.

That really sucks even though its the reality.

[Tavarez]

Google is pure evil, there were numerous incidents like: data leaking (access to private documents through the bug in google docs), cookies that they place in our computers to track person's web browsing habits. Google analytics and tracking our IP addresses. definitely they know lot.
p.s. almost forgot gmail accounts (they can read our mail). But I guess the other clients are not safe as well.

[UserU]

When you signed up for an account, you should be aware they have the rights to handle your data...

On the flip side, their assessments and guides are pretty helpful in times of need.

[MoonCrypt]

Google has become part of most individuals life!! how can one avoid using the Google products, or ensure your data is safe?

use VPN services at least to give another location if your location service is not turned off from the session!!
also, there are apps called fly GPS that can emulate any location you want to be... so in that way if they want to keep stealing data without permission
try to ensure the data they get is not authentic

[Vod]

I love the Google reports.  I recently got my 2018 travel report and the statistics are so incredible and detailed.  

I feel it's useless to worry about such things.  I didn't attempt to hide my real name when I registered here, even though I scam bust and am hated by many - and I don't attempt to hide where I travel.

I turn off tracking on my phone, and I am still captured a thousand times a day by cameras no matter what I do.  My BPIP website should show that I am in favour of collecting and analyzing data.

Why stress over it?

[Pmalek]

Even if you turn off location services you can still be tracked. You can be triangulated based on the cell tower your phone is connected to. When you move towards the location of a new cell tower your location can now be triangulated based on the new cell tower's location.

But that is not all.
Most people use Smart Phones nowadays. So besides being tracked using GSM or WIFI networks you can also be tracked due to the different sensors available in your phone.

Take a look at this article:
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-track-a-cellphone-without-gps-or-consent-1821125371

It says you can get tracked

using your phone’s internal compass, an air pressure reading, a few free-to-download maps, and a weather report.

It goes on and says:

Your cellphone comes equipped with an amazing array of compact sensors that are more or less collecting information about your environment at all time. An accelerometer can tell how fast you’re moving; a magnetometer can detect your orientation in relation to true north; and a barometer can measure the air pressure in your surrounding environment. You phone also freely offers up a slew of non-sensory data such as your device’s IP address, timezone, and network status (whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network.)

[AuroraHF]

Decentralization and privacy are king. Projects like Monero, Sylo, ZenCash etc will help reclaim aspects of our privacy back. A good alternative to Google is DuckDuckGo.

[plasmodesmata]

that's why I switched to ecosia.com
it plants trees as I search and hopefully isnt as information invasive as google

[plasmodesmata]

Even if you turn off location services you can still be tracked. You can be triangulated based on the cell tower your phone is connected to. When you move towards the location of a new cell tower your location can now be triangulated based on the new cell tower's location.

But that is not all.
Most people use Smart Phones nowadays. So besides being tracked using GSM or WIFI networks you can also be tracked due to the different sensors available in your phone.

Take a look at this article:
https://gizmodo.com/how-to-track-a-cellphone-without-gps-or-consent-1821125371

It says you can get tracked

using your phone’s internal compass, an air pressure reading, a few free-to-download maps, and a weather report.

It goes on and says:

Your cellphone comes equipped with an amazing array of compact sensors that are more or less collecting information about your environment at all time. An accelerometer can tell how fast you’re moving; a magnetometer can detect your orientation in relation to true north; and a barometer can measure the air pressure in your surrounding environment. You phone also freely offers up a slew of non-sensory data such as your device’s IP address, timezone, and network status (whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or a cellular network.)

a very good reason to NOT have a cell phone!

[countryfree]

Even if you turn off location services you can still be tracked. You can be triangulated based on the cell tower your phone is connected to. When you move towards the location of a new cell tower your location can now be triangulated based on the new cell tower's location.

There's a huge difference.
Apps use location data from your smartphone and they may send it in the cloud somewhere, or to third parties unknown to you, whereas cell tower information is only known by your phone company and the police.

[Raja_MBZ]

The Big Brother is watching you. I checked history of my phone location and it's empty, because I have location history turned off. I only can see current location of my phone. Despite that I have location history turned off, Google probably still knows where I've been today, yesterday or month ago.
I don't know why, but I'm not so concerned about my privacy. Maybe because I'm not very important person who have many things to hide. Offcourse, these privacy issues is coming more serious eventually, but it gives some benefits. Just one example - what if I lose my phone one day or someone will steal it? I would be able to see my lost phone location on Google Maps, lock my phone or just delete all data in my phone without having it in my hands. If you want to have benefits like this one, you have to pay price of privacy.

Privacy-stealing companies are standing strong because of people like you, the people who're not very concerned about their privacy. Google doesn't need our 2-years of location data to tell us where our mobile phone is currently located.

Understand the "true price of privacy" mate!

Are you ready? Here is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/all-the-data-facebook-google-has-on-you-privacy

[LTU_btc]

Privacy-stealing companies are standing strong because of people like you, the people who're not very concerned about their privacy. Google doesn't need our 2-years of location data to tell us where our mobile phone is currently located.

Understand the "true price of privacy" mate!

Are you ready? Here is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/all-the-data-facebook-google-has-on-you-privacy

Thanks for link to interesting article. In past I already checked what Google and Facebook have collected about me. And I didn't found anything surprising, because I don't keep all my life in these services. When I want some privacy I use  For example, my location history is empty. Google personalised ads profile isn't accurate at all - they show that I interested in american football, jazz, cricket, comercial cars, celebrity news, bodybuilding or fashion, but I haven't searched for these things at all. So, I can't say that Google knows everything about me.
But there is few things that I concerned. First - Google have all photos which were taken with my phone. Another thing - they have all data from my email. But you can request Google to Facebook to delete all data that they have about you if you worried about your privacy. But I'm not planning to do that.

[vapourminer]

while i do believe google etc tracks and keeps too much info with no option to really opt out its the price one pays for the convenience of using their device or service, which is very useful at times. so i dont stress about it.

now i do believe privacy is a right, and it can still be achieved, you just need to work harder at it and give up a lot of conveniences. so while i think too much info is being kept, im willing to go along with it. for now anyway. the convenience factor outweighs the privacy im am willingly giving up.

re: cellphones, especially smartphones. as someone mentioned it is amazing what you can get from all the internal sensors. of course the phone needs to be powered up.. dont need gps or a cell signal, just dead reckoning using stored readings, which can be saved even in airplane more or whatever, and transmitted when it connects again. download some of those apps that can read the cell sensors. you may be impressed. or alarmed. my note 4, which is old tech now, can recreate anywhere ive been based on passive sensors alone. just need the data history.

supposedly one can map your house layout based on passive phone sensors. without gps or any location services. rooms and floors can be mapped just based on the passive phone sensors. even property layout like outside structures and such to a lessor extent .. again by dead reckoning and pressure changes, not with location services, cell tower info or gps or any of that stuff. nothing that city hall doesnt have but still a good demonstration of the capabilities of smartphone sensors.

[Gabteb]

Yep i know but what user like me can do ? always use Tor o VPN ,there is activity which we can del but ofcrs. i dont belive its realy being deleted by them maybe in near future blockchain would resolve this problem but for this moment we all depend from Gigant like Google and its reality we have what we can do?

[Pmalek]

This article is from 2017 but still proves the point how unsafe everything we do online is. Hijacking and Hacking cellphone numbers to gain access to user accounts and login details, nasty stuff...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/21/business/dealbook/phone-hack-bitcoin-virtual-currency.html

[keung0109]

exactly why we need that web 3.0 brotha

[bitmedia]

Facebook too

[Raja_MBZ]

exactly why we need that web 3.0 brotha

Facebook too

Please do us a favor and stay away from "Serious discussion" board.

[Cryptotina]

This is creepy; I'm sure that I never turned on anything named as "Location History":



"Explore Timeline" gives me a list of about 37 places that I visited in 2017-18!

Should we stop using Android?

Stop using Android? Do you also want us to go back to the days of carriage? Or Elizabeth era.. Although it won't be so bad I think 🤔 But! I don't mind if Google even knows my ancestors.. So long they keep it secure from outsiders. Lols this is making one become paranoid a bit 😁

[Goodvalony]

you can imagine the world we are living in now. they will preach security yet all your information are right there with them at their finger tips. no wonder some government agencies refused to use Mobile phones, and smart phones for official duties. i don't think there is privacy again on the internet.

[shield132]

Btw the most curious thing here is how google masks it's tracking. It looks like google is doing best for you and your experience but in reality they want to obtain as much information as possible and then analyze all of them for marketing strategies and for different things.
That sucks a lot, it's a shame.

[markstivn98]

It really is dangerous.
The privacy is at great risk as technology advances
. I think they get everything they want when registering in email.
And connect to the Internet. Operate the property of the site ..
 This is useful when you steal your device only.

[Cryptotina]

Oh come on! 😄 We can't always have it clean. In every good thing, exist bad thing and vice versa. So sure they can track, use and steal anyone's id.. But we also have choices to either stop using their products/services and create ours...or we can just sue them lol. Anyway, we can't have everything or anything without slight fault at least

[jjbanks994]

You think they are secure with their 2FA and passwords and all these captcha quizzes but in reality we are all being tricked with what information they know about us

[Raja_MBZ]

You think they are secure with their 2FA and passwords and all these captcha quizzes but in reality we are all being tricked with what information they know about us

Well...

>Google's reCAPTCHA service doesn't track/retrieve anything else other than the solution to the problem they provided.

>2FA solely depends upon your system's clock/date time and your 2FA backup code. Google doesn't really record anything from this either.

>Not sure what you mean by "passwords".


From now on, please remember that you all are posting in "Serious discussion" section, and any non-serious post will get reported.

[TheHas]

If you're worried about Google as a company recording your information, maybe try the Brave Browser (instead of Chrome). They are taking steps to ensure ads are blocked and your information is kept private.

If you use Chrome and Google is your main search engine, pretty sure Google will have an excellent picture of who you are as a person. If you care about that, then could be a good idea to switch Browsers, or invest in some other blocking tools like a few users have mentioned.

[TryNinja]

If you use Chrome and Google is your main search engine, pretty sure Google will have an excellent picture of who you are as a person. If you care about that, then could be a good idea to switch Browsers, or invest in some other blocking tools like a few users have mentioned.

DuckDuckGo over Google as your search engine is a must.

I'm not sure if I should trust Brave, so I keep using Firefox. But being based on Chromium (which AFAIK is "open-source Chrome") doesn't make it less-privacy oriented? I don't know how that works for sure.