Google's Data Collection is Hard To Escape, Study Claims (cnn.com) 100
Citing a report [PDF] published on Tuesday by Digital Content Next and Vanderbilt University, CNN writes that "short of chucking your phone into the river, shunning the internet, and learning to read paper maps again, there's not much you can do to keep Google from collecting data about you." From the report: So says a Vanderbilt University computer scientist who led an analysis of Google's data collection practices. His report, released Tuesday, outlines a myriad ways the company amasses information about the billions of people who use the world's leading search engine, web browser, and mobile operating system, not to mention products like Gmail, platforms like YouTube, and products like Nest. Although the report doesn't contain any bombshells, it presents an overview of Google's efforts to learn as much as possible about people.
[...] Google collects far more data than Facebook, according to the report, and it is the world's largest digital advertising company. Its vast portfolio of services, from Android to Google Search to Chrome to Google Pay, create a firehose of data. Professor Douglas Schmidt and his team intercepted data as it was transmitted from Android smartphones to Google servers. They also examined the information Google provides users in its My Activity and Google Takeout tools, as well as the company's privacy polices and previous research on the topic. The researchers claims that almost every move you make online is collected and collated, from your morning routine (such as music tastes, route to work, and news preferences) to errands (including calendar appointments, webpages visited, and purchases made). "At the end of the day, Google identified user interests with remarkable accuracy," the report states. In a statement, Google said, "This report is commissioned by a professional DC lobbyist group, and written by a witness for Oracle in their ongoing copyright litigation with Google. So, it's no surprise that it contains wildly misleading information."
[...] Google collects far more data than Facebook, according to the report, and it is the world's largest digital advertising company. Its vast portfolio of services, from Android to Google Search to Chrome to Google Pay, create a firehose of data. Professor Douglas Schmidt and his team intercepted data as it was transmitted from Android smartphones to Google servers. They also examined the information Google provides users in its My Activity and Google Takeout tools, as well as the company's privacy polices and previous research on the topic. The researchers claims that almost every move you make online is collected and collated, from your morning routine (such as music tastes, route to work, and news preferences) to errands (including calendar appointments, webpages visited, and purchases made). "At the end of the day, Google identified user interests with remarkable accuracy," the report states. In a statement, Google said, "This report is commissioned by a professional DC lobbyist group, and written by a witness for Oracle in their ongoing copyright litigation with Google. So, it's no surprise that it contains wildly misleading information."
Google responds... (Score:1)
Google: No it's not!
Everyone: Well how did you know about the article then?
Google: No comment.
Re:Google responds... (Score:4, Insightful)
I think it's telling that they attack the messenger instead of pointing out any of the supposed errors. I mean the problems of the messenger may be valid but if it just turns out to rest on the ad hominem against a lengthy report, then there's not much weight to their response.
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I think it's telling that they attack the messenger instead of pointing out any of the supposed errors. I mean the problems of the messenger may be valid but if it just turns out to rest on the ad hominem against a lengthy report, then there's not much weight to their response.
Wish I had mod points left jeff. But then I might be character assigned as being a lefty pinko. As I post this Google just updated the slashdot side panel add with suggestions about which vehicle I might trade for the gas guzzling piece of shit I use to tow my camper. Not to worry though for me financially it is really Canadian softwood lumber that is causing the wild fires in California. NOT my gas guzzling POS that spews more carbon per kilometer driven than 3 of the ones Google just advised me to look in
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Well, since Google goes out of its way to hide any contact info for its Data Protection Officer and/or Company Secretary you can get a good idea of their likely level of concern.
For a company built on finding data they are very keen not to reveal their own details (unlike most other responsible companies) -- a real insight into their ethics -- plenty of protection for us but none for you.
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Does that mean Google is Santa Claus?
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"We're not saying your Christmas gifts were made by enslaved loved ones. They're mostly strangers."
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Can't you just use an iPhone, and anonymize your searches with something like DuckDuckGo?
Does your iPhone have ad blocking? Have you disabled all Javascript, or can you block at least the following domains on your iPhone (in all HTTP clients, including RSS readers etc.):
- *.google.com
- *.googleapis.com
- *.google-analytics.com
- *.googleadservices.com
- *.googlesyndication.com
- *.googleapis.com
- *.doubleclick.com
- *.doubleclick.de
- *.doubleclick.net
- *.adsensecustomsearchads.com
If not, you're out of luck. Many websites use Google for advertising revenue, which means you are tracked. Many website
Widely misleading and missing oxford comma (Score:5, Funny)
Widely misleading? I think not! (Score:1)
Replace your Android phone with another brand, perhaps a flip phone.
Use Duck-Duck-Go for all your internet searches - https://duckduckgo.com/ [duckduckgo.com]
Change your email provider, or encrypt all your emails - Heres my PGP Key ID - DCFB8830
Use another map provider, like Maps for iOS or your in-vehicle navigation system. People use Google because it works! Plain and simple. If you don't want a company to have
Google is an advertising company (Score:1)
From their own mouth (Alphabet Inc 2016 SEC 10-K filing) [sec.gov]
Our innovations in areas like search and advertising have made our services widely used, and our brand one of the most recognized in the world. We generate revenues primarily by delivering online advertising that consumers find relevant and that advertisers find cost-effective.
Just look at page 24 and you will see that in 2016 Google had $90B in revenue... $79B of which was advertising revenue.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
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Oh for pete's sake, just buy a flip phone/feature phone and call it a day.
That's not enough - google has an enormous footprint when it comes to webpage tracking, not to mention maps and ajax libraries. Lots of webpages won't work at all if you block google.
Plus, there is all of your friends & colleagues who entered info about you into their phones and then they share all their contacts info with google.
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> I would proffer that it was a better place.
Positive props for proper 'proffer' parlance in your prose. Pure poetry. Provokes punters pausing, too.
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>"Oh for pete's sake, just buy a flip phone/feature phone and call it a day."
And the phone companies will still:
* Track your every move using very accurate cellular triangulation methods
* Store all that location data from above
* Filter/track/store all your text messages
* Track/store all your meta data (who you called, when, where)
So yeah, it will at least cut Google out of the picture, but tracking is still there. If you are using an Android phone, the best you can do is register under a pseudonym, turn
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* The above makes 'storage' irrelevant
* Don't use SMS messages for anything important or personal, save that for in-person conversations
* Phone companies have been doing that since there were phone companies so what's the point, how else do they bill you?
There was that so hard?
Honestly you can dump wireless entirely and get a landline instead if you want your privacy back. What everyone is doing, as usual, is trading th
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The perfect is the enemy of the good (Score:2, Insightful)
there's not much you can do to keep Google from collecting data about you."
But that doesn't mean you can't block most of it. It does not mean you should not try.
You can go a long, long ways to avoid data collection by Google.
Do not use Android.
Do not use GMail, or the google search engine.
Do not use Google Maps.
Block their web scripts from loading, and use DecentralEyes instead.
Given Google's reach and breadth it is almost certain they will still gather some data about you, but you absolutely can minimize it.
Let surveillance capitalism die the death it should die. There are alte
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Block their web scripts from loading, and use DecentralEyes instead.
My immediate thought was, they're collecting the data on you instead. You'd have to go a long way to prove that they're not.
When Pollution is Good For You (Score:1)
You can't opt out of modern surveillance capitalism unless you opt out of society, go full Kazcynisky and live in a hut.
But you can take advantage of the pervasive surveillance in order to feed them bad information. Create alternate personas and use them for certain things in your life. Don't just reserve them for the weird stuff, give them regular things too. You can start with a pre-paid phone and use that phone# to sign up for shit like web mail, grocery loyalty cards, etc. For example, If you do al
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"Oh it's TOO HARD why bother trying?" (Score:2)
"short of chucking your phone into the river, shunning the internet, and learning to read paper maps again, there's not much you can do to keep Google from collecting data about you."
Don't own a smartphone, use DuckDuckGo instead of Google, use tracking protection, delete unnecessary cookies, use NoScript and a good adblocker like Ubox, and use OpenStreetMaps instead of Google maps. There, was that so hard?
Lazy and cowards will now say: "Oh they probably can still track you and collect data on you so why bother trying it's useless"
You're a bad example, no one should listen to you. Take back your privacy, even SOME of it, and take back at least SOME of your life.
Newsflash! (Score:2)
Google can track you on the intarwebs!
Water is wet!
Pope catholic!
News brought to you by CORI - Captain Obvious Research Institute
Wildly Misleading my ASS (Score:2)
Google needs to allow people to opt out of more stuff. Period.
What about doing the opposite? (Score:1)
How do people feel about addons like trackmenot which attempt to drown the telemetrics in noise?
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Time to update that idiom ... (Score:2)
Nothing is certain except death and taxes -- and Google data collection.
Not so smart (Score:2)
Huh? (Score:1)
FDroid app store
DuckDuckGo for searches
OsmAnd for navigation with OpenStreetMap
K9-Mail
Unless the Android system itself leaks data to Google (which the XDA dev crowd would probably have noticed), I don't see a problem. The setup is less comfortable than standard Android, but if that's not acceptable, there are apparently ways to install apps from the play store on it.