Google knows all this info about you
Google is tracking you !
Google knows where you are !
Google is reading your emails !
Google knows what music you are listening to !
Every once in a while someone shares a scary Facebook post that has people losing their minds about how the super giant Google is secretively spying on their everyone. The truth is that yes Google does collect data from its users – but there is nothing secret or sneaky about it. In fact you have the controls to manage the info Google can collect about you.
Lets start with some Google questions:
Question: Why does Google collect information about my activities ?
Answer: It does this so that is can optimize your search results; after all that is why you use Google – to get good results. So when you type “cool things to do to tonight” into Google, it is going to give you results of what’s happening in your city and not across the globe. This is a good thing.
Question: Why does Google give my information to advertisers so they show me their ads at the right moment ?
Answer: Advertisers do not get your info from Google. Google makes money by selling ads. Advertisers buy ads on Google as they get good results from being able to target their ads. Targeting ads means that Google has a facility for advertisers to show their ads when you do a search with specific words. The thinking is that if you are searching for something to do with food then you might want to see an ad for a restaurant and another for recipe and another for food delivery service. You are going to get served ads so they might as well be of items that are relevant to your search. So if you are searching for “Holiday in France in December”, then it makes sense for a TripAdvisor ad, an airline ad and a hotel ad to appear and not an ad for roof inspection!
Question: How can Google take info from my phone and move it to my computer and visa versa?
Answer: When you log into your mobile device using the same Google ID that you have on your computer, typically [email protected], then Google pools all your searches and history together so that you can access them from any device. So if you research some info at home and then head out with your mobile phone, then you can simply open your Chrome browser on your phone and the recent terms you searched for from your home computer will be there. Convenient.
If you use Google Maps on your computer and search for an address you can even send the directions direct to your mobile phone so that you don’t have to fiddle with it in the car [see how to do that here].
Question: Does Google track your exact physical location?
Answer: Yes. Google also DOES track your location. This was “exposed” and “revealed” that if you over to a specific website you could see that Google has your every movement mapped out. No conspiracy theory here either, as this only happens because you specifically told Google to do it for you [read about that here]. Some people want to be able to see where they travel to so they can optimize their routes, minimize their travel time by avoiding congestion and just keep a log of cool places they travel to. Nice to see it all mapped out and can even repay each journey back if you wish.
Question: How can I see everything Google can see about me ?
Answer: Google has launched “My Activity Tool” which is a service that allows you to see everything that Google can see about you and your activities across all your devices.
Head over to the My Activity Tool where Google assures you that “Only you can see this data. Google protects your privacy and security”.
The tool is divided into sections so you can see, per day, your activity on Android, YouTube, Chrome, Search and Now
You can see the search phrases and even where you were where did the search.
What is also interesting that it records some of the apps you used and how many times – even apps that are not Google related
How to stop Google from tracking your usage, location and apps ?
Answer: Head over to “My Account”
Click on Manage your Google activity
Click on Go to Activity Controls
Now just scroll down and toggle the switch next to each section to pause Google from keeping track of that info:
You’ve written a really comprehensive post on this! Thanks for writing it 🙂
OMG great information on what Google is tracking and why. I have never heard of the My Activity tool, thanks for sharing. Honestly, I like all the tracking. I understand that I give up a little privacy for convenience.
Yep Google is always there collecting information on everything and everybody. Advertising and Marketing firms have been collecting data since the printing press was invented. We do get a lot of convenience from Google. I love Google Maps and use Chrome everyday. I love going to a new town and I can find anything I want with a few clicks. Thanks for the post and the links.
Wow, this is very informative. I’ve never heard of the My Activity Tool and will definitely be checking it out to see what info Google can see about me.
This is interesting and kinda scary at the same time. Thanks for clarifying!
I’ve found myself double checking things that get posted on social media with snopes.com because of so many scams and crazy things going on. Thank you for clarifying all this information. Google does a lot and helps with a lot, and used in the proper functions and parameters it can stay as such.
Thank you for the clarity and pointing out Googles own tool. I checked and was confused it only showed Youtube Videos. Hah, that’s because I apparently have already turned all other tracking off. So how come I still get optimized ads and great search results (which i do appreciate)?
Thanks for sharing such valuable information. This is one of the reasons that I limit signing in to 3rd party sites with my Google id or Facebook id.
Whoa, this is quite enlightening! At first all the tracking freaked me out, but I get it and appreciate all the suggestions from Google. I never heard of the My Activity Tool, I have to look into this. Thanks for sharing!
I knew Google was tracking many things, but it’s enlightening to see how much. While it is a little scary, I like that I can sync information from my computer to my phone, see previous searches and get helpful search suggestions, as long as that information stays private. 🙂
Fantastic info! I wasn’t aware of the My Activity Tool feature and the ability to change what information Google tracks.
I personally find the related ads annoying because many times I have done searches for other people and then the ads have little to do with me and my interests. I keep getting Depends ads after researching elderly care for someone else!
My activity tool huh? Interesting. Thank you for sharing. kinda scary though, but now I am aware and not in the dark anymore.
This is great information on Google!! Thank you so much for posting!