Our privacy is for sale on almost all the networking platforms. Google, which is every internet’s user go-to website, tracks and records every move of its users and sells the personal data to the highest bidder. An investigation revealed that the tech giant keeps a very detailed log of its users’ web browsing and location history. Imagine a company keeping track of you for the last 10 years even when you think you are protected by using incognito mode.
In one year, Google stores the browsing data which can fill over half a million A4 paper pages for each user. It also collects personal information from the Google-owned email, search engine, GPS system, maps, and YouTube. The company also tracks your logging in and logging out time as well. Google also keeps records of users as when they leave for work, where they go and which transport they avail for the commute. If all the data is printed and pilled up, the pages will measure more than 189ft. More than 20,000 pages worth of data is collected on a single individual during 2 weeks. This data, if stacked, will reach 7ft 9in in height.
Google uses all this collected data to build advertising portfolios of its user’ interest and then shows the related ads on mobile or laptop. Ad agencies invest millions to get their advertisements shown to the people who might be interested to buy them. Many people believe that the ads which they see online are based on their search history but most people don’t know about this ‘sinister surveillance’ technique which is used by the company. A Google user who uses all the company provided apps and services said, “I work in technology and had no idea Google was harvesting this amount of information. What was particularly shocking as it had a record of websites I looked at while I was in Google’s private, incognito mode as well. It also had files I had deleted from Google’s cloud service, including an old CV, as well as every photo I had taken on my phone. It’s wrong to trust any entity that big with so much information. They’re just trying to make money, and at some point, someone is going to make a mistake.”
Lord Ashdown, a former Liberal Democrat, urged that the company should pay an annual fee to get the data of their users. He said,“I am shocked and horrified that the personal intrusion into our lives is so deep – if this was a communist state we would not be tracked so closely. I’m pretty tech-savvy and was not aware of this – it’s unbelievable. At the moment it is a Wild West and we’ve let it happen because we benefit from Google and don’t mind it making a bit of money. We get a free service but it is massively invasive. My proposition is we tell Google you can have my data but, should you make money from it, I require a share of the profit you make from my property – it’s the same with other property we own.”
Google’s spokesman said about the allegations, “The privacy and security of our users are of the utmost importance, which is why we have spent years making available tools like My Account so people can understand and control their Google data and make the privacy choices that are right for them. We encourage everyone to review My Account regularly, and 3.8 million people did in the UK in the last year. Your data makes things like Google Maps work better and more effectively, by helping to do things like recognizing traffic patterns and help you find the quickest way home.” According to an estimate, 2.8% of the world’s computer storage capacity is used to store the data of Google’s three billion users. Google is also doing what Facebook did to cover up their deeds and surprisingly, there’s no one to question Google
