I didn’t tell Google any of these things intentionally, of course — I didn’t fill out a profile or enter a form. But even as you search Google, it turns out, Google is also searching you.
This isn’t exactly new news. Google has, since 2009, published a transparency tool called Dashboard, which lets users see exactly what kind of data the Internet giant has on them and from which services. But the issue of data collection has provoked renewed anxiety of late, perhaps spurred by recent investigations into personal data and search engines in Europe and Asia — as well as the high-profile hacking of celebrities’ personal data and the shadow of last year’s National Security Agency revelations.
“They know everywhere I’ve been every day for several years,” one user observed. “… I do find it very interesting, but it’s also very scary because I don’t doubt it’s possible to hold this information against me at some point.”
In all probability, that’s true! (Courts are already working with less.)
But it’s not that any of this is a secret, necessarily. In fact, in many instances, you’ve signed off on Google’s tracking, whether by signing up for a Google service or opting in on an Android phone. The startling thing is that we forget all this information is being stored, forever, in one centralized place. The small, ordinary act of sending an e-mail or making a search or looking up directions may seem revelatory, in and of itself. But when you compile all those thousands of disparate e-mails and searches and directions over time, which Google does, you end up with something far more intimate — something not too far removed from a detailed portrait of your life and interests.
Consider, for instance, the Google services you probably use on a daily basis. There’s search and e-mail; maybe you also use Chrome, Google’s Internet browser, to access the Web. But that’s just the beginning.
If you have an Android phone, that device may log your location and velocity data. If you have a YouTube account, Google knows not only what videos you upload, but which you watch, too. There’s Google Maps. Google Play. Google Voice, if you use it to transcribe your missed calls. Between Google Contacts and Chat, the site has a pretty good idea who you’re friends with.
Let’s look at a fairly standard case study, for example. Today is Tuesday, and I’m starting to think about what I’m going to get up to this weekend. I’ll probably Gchat a friend and ask if she wants to grab dinner. After that, I’ll Google a couple of restaurant options and check out their menus (in Chrome, naturally) and eventually settle on a spot for dinner. I’ll e-mail my friend to confirm. And when the appointed date arrives, knowing my sense of direction, I’ll probably use Google Maps to figure out how to get there.
“We are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data,” it said.
Source: here
