Movies like ‘Eagle Eye’ where via satellite connection your entire life pops up on a screen seem to hold some truth to them. Everyone on a computer should know, in theory at least, that technology corporations track what they do and keep a record. There are a few things one should know about how your profile is tracked.
Those who value their privacy might be turned off by how extensive consumer data collection can get. Not all the information may be correct; but brought together, the result can be overwhelming. Google develops a profile of every consumer based on the person’s activities through the company’s search engine as well as Gmail (including the content of everything you send and receive), YouTube and Maps services. You’ll see estimates of your gender and age. Depending on your Google account, there may be other information as well, like a list of your interests. This sounds unreal, but it’s sadly true.
Knowing where you are is track-able as well. When location services on your smartphone are turned on, Google tracks your whereabouts as frequently as possible. This is literally getting descriptive information about what you do, where you’ve been, and who you’ve been with. The NSA is highly interested in this information. It’s not just about which room you’re in, but they’re tracking you to where you are within a few feet. This is taking stalking to another level.
As far as your browsing history is concerned, you can turn the setting off, but if you haven’t, then Google keeps an extensive record of every website it knows you’ve been to. That includes many sites not owned by Google, but that the company can monitor through the use of cookies, or small files used by a browser to record information, to see where you’ve been.
Want to find out all the things Google know about you? Here are 6 links that will show you some of the data Google has about you.
6. Find out what Google thinks about you
Google collects data about you and creates a profile. You can control and review the information here: http://www.google.com./settings/ad/
Google also has a tool called Google Analytics that helps publishers see what pages you have viewed on their website, how many times you have visited it, how long did you stay, etc. You can opt out by going to this link: http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout
5. Find out your location history
If you use Android, your mobile device may be sending your location to Google. You can see your entire history here: https://maps.google.com/locationhistory
4. Find out your entire Google Search history
Google saves every single search you have ever done. On top of that, they record every Google ad you have clicked on. This log is available in Google web history controls: https://www.google.com/history/
3. Get a monthly security and privacy report from Google
Google offers an Account activity page that tells you about all the Google services you are using. You can even enable a monthly report that will be sent to your email: https://www.google.com/setting/dashboard
2. Find out all the apps and extensions that are accessing your Google data
The Account activity page also offers a list of all the apps that have any type of access to your data. You can see the exact type of permissions granted to the app and revoke access to your data here: https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions
1. Export all of your data out of Google
Google lets you export all your data: bookmarks, emails, contacts, drives files, profiles info, your YouTube videos, photos and more here: https://www.google.com/takeout