What the (censored) did Google just do?

[the8thark]

Does Google normally consult you when making changes to their software?

No. Point taken.

This is not theoretical at all! Google Chrome has been doing this since day one. People from Google have even testified before congress in conjunction with terrorist activities specifically because they do track what people are searching for.

And that's exactly why I hate Google's practices. Sneaky to the extreme.

 

[vansmith]

This is not theoretical at all! Google Chrome has been doing this since day one. People from Google have even testified before congress in conjunction with terrorist activities specifically because they do track what people are searching for.

You do know that you can turn off a lot of the features that send data to Google from Chrome correct?

If you're referring to the search suggestions, IE9 has it and so does Safari. So, nothing unique to Google there.

Yes, they keep logs of what you search but that is not the same as tracking which would imply that there was a concerted attempt to monitor the searches of particular individuals. In other words, there isn't someone at Google whose responsibility is to monitor what you do online. Second, have you seen these logs? In their "unanonymized" form, they are very general and include information that is easy to get about anyone. Here is an example from their site (without the quotation marks around the URL):

123.45.67.89 - 25/Mar/2003 10:15:32 -
"http://www.google.com/search?q=cars" -
Firefox 1.0.7; Windows NT 5.1 - 740674ce2123e96

What in that is both personal and not easily found? Yes, the IP is unique to you but it's not as if it's hard to get the IP of an individual. On top of that, those are made anonymous. Sure, it's not done right away but it's not as if they have a whole lot of information about you right now.

Seriously, this whole "Google know everything about me and I have no privacy" thing is blown out of proportion and is bordering on the conspiratorial.

 

[the8thark]

Seriously, this whole "Google know everything about me and I have no privacy" thing is blown out of proportion and is bordering on the conspiratorial.

Agreed. But there's been no proof either way on this issue. So I'm not taking any risks.

 

[vansmith]

Agreed. But there's been no proof either way on this issue. So I'm not taking any risks.

To be fair, you have no proof that Apple isn't collecting information when you use Safari or any other company when you use their application.

 

[XJ-linux]

Generally, I assume whatever I put out on the internet will get tied back to me at some point anyhow. As for Google... they are a for-profit company with commitments to their shareholders. I am under no illusion that my personal well being, preferences, privacy or interests would somehow be valued more than their bottom line. They are no different than Apple, MS, Boeing, FN Herstal or any other transnational entity that has an interest in influencing policy. Keep in mind, Google is still driving around "not intending" to gather info on private computer networks (an act forbidden to the CIA and others) while being an active NGO member of the US intelligence community and partner (Intellipedia, Keyhole, In-Q-Tel, Recorded Future, etc...) Hmm...

 

[Doug b]

I only say that it is a terrible way because it can adversely affect your browsing experience. Let me give you an example: If I change my user agent in Opera so that it identifies as IE, I can't load Gmail (I get an ActiveX is disabled error). If I change it back to Opera's UAS, Gmail loads perfectly fine. So although that specific example may not happen for you, you may encounter issues elsewhere. Your choice may be more problematic as well (I can't be sure) since you changed it to nothing.

Gotcha. And I hadn't thought about that, really. Turns out that doing this did create and issue when trying to log into Yahoo's newer mail version. Could only log into the old classic version, so I reverted back to the normal UAS.

Doug

 

[BostonPro]

ughh

I agree with you 100% on this.. The image search sucks using my Dell with only a GMA-4500HD.. As does most other flash-based stuff.

I want the old Google back!

Why do these huge websites fix things that aren't broken? Facebook is notorious for doing that... BUT we all learn to love it, right?

 

[the8thark]

To be fair, you have no proof that Apple isn't collecting information when you use Safari or any other company when you use their application.

Agreed. But I'd trust my info with Apple and not Google.
I just remembered something and after a Google search I found a link to it.

Lawyers Claim Google Wi-Fi Sniffing ‘Is Not an Accident’ | Threat Level | Wired.com
Old story but it proves my point. I'm not worried with people having my information. I'm more worried with people mis-using my information. And I'd rather not give those mis-users access to my information if I can help it.

And if anything thinks I have a vendetta against Google after my posts here, well I do. I like Google kinda. I like their technologies. I just don't like how they practice business and how they handle the information they get at all.