What does Google know about you? How to Secure your Privacy?

“Google might know you better than yourself”

Thanks to the data the tech giant collects in order to sell ads, Google has a wealth of information on you — from what you look like to where you live and where you’ve traveled. The corporation may even be able to guess your favorite food.

When you use Google’s search function to learn about the world, Google is using your searches to learn about you. The search giant builds multifaceted profiles of users based on their search history, as well as browsing history on Google-owned sites like YouTube. It uses that data to build an advertising profile, serving users with ads that it thinks will match their demographics.

How Is My Google Data Gathered?

Understanding how Google gathers information about you is a great way to demonstrate just how much the company knows about you. Let’s take a look at Google services:

• Google Search: Google keeps a history for every search you’ve done on the web while using Google’s search engine. This alone is a lot of information, but when it gets even more comprehensive when paired with the other services.
• Google Chrome: While Chrome may very well be the best web browser available, it also gives Google a history of every website you’ve visited even if you didn’t reach that website through search.
• YouTube: Google tracks the searches you have done on YouTube and keeps a record of every video you’ve watched.
• Google Maps: The use of Google Maps, especially when using the navigation functionality, will give Google access to your location and history.
• Waze: You might not know it, but Google actually owns the popular Google Maps alternative. Waze uses crowd-sourcing to help guide drivers, which means that the input Wazers provide about traffic goes straight to Google.
• Android: This one may negate Google Maps and Waze simply because Google is also tracking your phone and doesn’t need to rely on those other services. Android is also storing your text messages and your app usage, so it knows all about that Candy Crush addiction you suffered a few years back.
• Google Apps: This list could go on for a while, so let’s just sum it up with: and every other Google app or service. This includes Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Photos, Google Drive, etc.

What does Google know?

Google knows you better than you know yourself. It knows who you are, your appearance, your voice, your health status, your religious / political beliefs, your home / office address, places you visit, places you have traveled, who are your friends, whom you talk, where you meet, what are your likes (food, books, movies, where you shop, etc.), etc.

Your purchase history

Here is where it starts to get a bit scarier. If you are a Google Gmail user, Google is tracking your purchase history. You can access your purchase history here.

Google knows your reservations

Reservations that you’ve made using Search, Maps and the Assistant are also being tracked and organized to “help you get things done”. You can see Reservation data in Google My Activity.

And of course, further information for all the bookings you make with hotel sites like Hotels.com, flights itineraries you’ve booked, will be available in your Gmail Account.

Your YouTube history

Your search history is keeping track of the videos you are watching, and again this is important information to building your profile. You can access your search history in your Google My Activity.

Your third-party apps with access to your Google account

It is well worth reviewing the sites and apps with access to your account. Remove the apps that you no longer use. And check this list, you might be surprised what apps have access to your potentially sensitive data.

Google knows your location history

Depending on your mobile settings, Google could well be recording your location history. You can see your location history here. It is tracking to quite detailed level.

How to protect your privacy

• The one way to stop Google gathering data about you is simply to stop using their services.
• Remain signed out of Google accounts as much as possible
• Use two browsers, one that is signed in, and one that is not
• Use Chrome Incognito / Private Browsing
• Opt-out of Google personalised ad preferences
• Use VPN (Virtual Private Network)
• Turn Off location reporting
• Use different browser / search engines (Duck Duck Go instead of Google Search engine. Duck Duck Go’s promise is no tracking, no spying)
• Switch to an iPhone rather than an Android
• Run a privacy check from your Google account, and review the data to see what you’re comfortable with.
• Google Analytics provides webmasters with detailed information at individual level that shows how many pages you looked out, how long you stayed. If you don’t want to be tracked, install Google Analytics Opt-out Browser add-on (For Chrome)

You can adjust all your privacy settings, download your data, and see and manage all the data in your Google Dashboard.