What Does Google Know About Me? And Why?

While we live in a time where technology plays a crucial part in our daily lives. Privacy should a very important thing to every and each one of us. It might sound silly, but nowadays, it is almost impossible to completely protect your privacy. With big companies like Google, Facebook etc. gathering every piece of information you share online. During the time that the Facebook privacy scandal went viral, I started thinking about all the data that such companies are collecting every minute. Away from Facebook, I was asking myself one question, “What does Google know about me?”. In this article, I will be helping you to find out what does Google really know about you? And what can you do to better protect your privacy? So let’s get to it.

What does Google know about you?

Although the answer to this question depends on which Google services and products do you use, as well as the privacy settings that you can change as you wish. Google still knows a lot about each user, no matter what privacy settings do you have, it is almost impossible to protect all your data.

It is no secret that Google has a huge set of products and services that we all use one way or another, but what data does Google collect, and what is the purpose of this massive data collection.

If we think about it for a bit, Google knows everything you ever typed in your browser, therefore, every website you visit, every search query you’ve searched for on Google, and every Youtube video you ever watched. Most internet users around the world use Google search engine, and Youtube every day, and Google collects the data of every and each one of those users.

Google has so many other services that if you use, then your data will be collected. If you use Google Maps to go around, then Google will know everywhere you go. If you own a Google Home smart speaker or any Google Assistant powered smart speaker, or even if you just use your Google Assistant on your smartphone, then Google collects your voice and audio features every time you interact with your Google Assistant.

Another thing, we can’t forget that Google owns the Android OS, meaning that it has access to your location data, people whom you communicate and share content with, as well as your activity on third-party websites and apps that all use Google services.

The bottom line is that users barely have any privacy left in 2018. At the same time, Google offers its privacy policy online for everyone to read, there are even videos to help you go around and learn how to manage your privacy. So you can actually choose which information you want Google to collect about you, and stop the data collection of other information. Unfortunately, most users don’t even check their privacy settings, and some of them don’t even know it exists.

What Can You Do About it?

Even though it seems like there is nothing you can do to stop the tech giant from collecting your personal data, but in reality, there are a lot of steps that you can take to limit Google’s access to your data. Here are some things that you can do:

Start using a different browser than Google Chrome, or at least don’t sign in with your Google account when you use Chrome. There are plenty of other browsers that you can use like Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or you can even use a more private browser like Brave.
You can also use a different search engine, Google isn’t the only search engine. There are plenty of them, like Microsoft Bing, or even a more privacy-oriented one like DuckDuckGo.
You can pay more attention, and try not to stay signed in to your Google Account. It will take you more time to sign in every time you want to use a Google service, like checking your Gmail for example. But this step will limit Google’s access to your data.
One of the most important steps is to check your privacy setting on Google, and control which data you are okay with sharing and which data you aren’t. It may take you some time, but each user should check their privacy setting at least once.
Google has provided its users with a useful tool that allow them to check their activity on Google devices and services, and get to know which data is being collected. You can check Google My Activity tool, and even control what activity to share through an easy, simple process.

Some users think that buying an iPhone or sticking to Apple products can solve the whole problem and secure your privacy. But what most users don’t know is that Google pays Apple billions of dollars every year to be the default search engine on all Apple devices.

Why Does Google Collect Your Data?

For the past 20 years or so, Google has been using all the data that they collect to do many things. First, Google uses this data to target ads back at us. For example, when you search for a new phone to buy online, you will start receiving ads about that specific phone. Second, just like any other company, Google is always trying to improve its services, and by collecting users data and preferences, Google can better develop its apps and services. The last reason for Google’s data collection would be to help build, develop, and optimize its continuously growing artificial-intelligence-based services.

In the end, we can’t deny that Google became a crucial part of our lives, and cutting off Google might be one of the hardest things to do. But if you care about your privacy then it’s better to follow some of the steps mentioned above.

Also Read: Here is everything we know so far about Google gaming service