If you’ve visited the Googlehomepage
or used any Google service like
YouTube recently,(and let’s face it, you have) you’re
bound to have seen the largish banner
proclaiming their revamped set of
privacy terms and coercing you to
take a look. And like a lot of people,
you just might have chosen to skip it.
Trust me, you don’t want to be doing
that again.Cutting the long story short, here’s
what they have to say. As long as
you’re logged on to your Google
account in your browser, the company
will collect and compartmentalise
data about your usage across all its
services. This includes data you give
while registering your account in the
first place, data from cookies, Web
and video searches, location checkins,
and information about the
devices and software you use to
access any of its services.
This is partly to provide targeted,
more relevant ads to you, but it
sounds like a serious encroachment
of your privacy. Think about it. Every
single time you type in that slightly
embarrassing or private thing into
your Chrome omnibox or YouTube
search bar and press Enter,
Google will know. And what’s
worse, Google will remember. Over
time, each user will have associated
with them, a list of traits predicted by
algorithms based on search trends.
Your own algorithmically generated
baseball card, which is only as true as
the information you chose to share
with it. And here’s when it gets really
messed up. The next time you get
served that weird ad that your disconcerting
search had to do with, Google
will remind you that it knows and
remembers.It’s still simple to keep yourself
cocooned from the Goliath while still
reaping all the benefits of the garden
it maintains, though. Don’t stay
logged on to your Google account
unless it is absolutely imperative. Use
a makeshift Google ID with fake informati
to access services like
YouTube to avoid being tracked.
Better still, use an ad blocking extension
like AdBlocker Plus (available on
both Firefox and Chrome) to eschew
ads altogether. You’re only as safe on
the Web as you wish to be. Just wish
to be very, very safe.'
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