Privacy from Google

Hi,

With google changing its privacy terms & conditions, I'm trying to improve my internet private sphere as much as I can. (Don't have anything to hide, but don't like the idea of a company like google to know too much about me & my web browsing habits).

I did a search on this topic, and saw some websites recommend to use 2 different broswers for gmail and google search.

I'm using Apple Mail (pop3/smtp) to access my gmail account. And Safari & Firefox for browsing (with Ghostery & AdBlock running in the background). In the web browsers, I'm generally not logged into my google account.

If I have pop3-gmail-access running in the background, does google associate this with my google web searches anyway (through my IP address)?
Or, on the same topic: Is it worthwhile running something like the Ghostery plugin at all, when (because of pop3 access) google knows my IP address anyway?

And if so: is there a way to anonymize pop3/smtp access?

Ideally something like running AppleMail through a proxy server, whilst Safari is NOT running through a proxy....

Many thanks!

If you want to stop Google from getting into your private sphere, the steps are pretty simple. Avoid use Google services..so switch from Gmail to other webmail services, and avoid using Google.com for searches..

Otherwise..I, personally, wouldn't worry about it too much..

BTW, did you know that ALL of your email in GMail is being indexed and scanned by Google to show you VERY targeted ads based on the content in your email? This is something that Google has been doing since day one when GMail was announced and available for public use..

just checked my mac - found just have to keep turning on Private Browsing on its Safari. I have to keep enabling Private Browsing each time I go online, how to I enable it automatically?

Thanks in advance.

Private Browsing will not hide your activity from your ISP or any website you visit. All it does is make sure you leave no trace of visited websites on your computer so that other people who get control of your mac can't spy on you.

Turning on Private Browsing doesn't affect the behaviour of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:
Websites that collect or share information about you
Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
Surveillance by secret agents
People standing behind you

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McYukon said:

Private Browsing will not hide your activity from your ISP or any website you visit. All it does is make sure you leave no trace of visited websites on your computer so that other people who get control of your mac can't spy on you.

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Ok, then I don't want to be tracked nor leave a trail of what websites I've been to - so how exactly do I make Private Browsing the default each time I go online?

Beliblis said:

I did a search on this topic, and saw some websites recommend to use 2 different broswers for gmail and google search.

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Those websites don't know what they're talking about. If you're signed into Google in each browser you use, you could be using 1000 browsers and Google will still record that which it does now. Thus, using two different browsers does nothing but create problems for you.

Beliblis said:

In the web browsers, I'm generally not logged into my google account.

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Why use two different browsers then?

Beliblis said:

And if so: is there a way to anonymize pop3/smtp access?

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Not if you're logging into their services. It's hard to login to a service without providing some sort of identifying credentials.

Beliblis said:

Ideally something like running AppleMail through a proxy server, whilst Safari is NOT running through a proxy....

Click to expand...

Again, running your pop/imap connection through a proxy doesn't avoid the fact that you'd still have to autheticate with your credentials.

Raz0rEdge said:

If you want to stop Google from getting into your private sphere, the steps are pretty simple. Avoid use Google services..so switch from Gmail to other webmail services, and avoid using Google.com for searches..

Click to expand...

This is the only solution that will keep you "safe" from Google. If you don't like their privacy practices, don't use their services.