Stop Giving Away Your Personal Information to Google

Unless you’ve been living in a black box, you’re aware that Google has been blithely tracking user activity on the Web. Below are a few recent articles on this subject (click on link to read an article):

Google Caught Tracking Safari Users: What You Need to Know

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out

Did Google intentionally track you?

A warrior’s forum member had this stringent advice for stopping Google from tracking your web activities:

if you want to avoid Google knowing anything about you, stop using Google’s services. Like in Orson Well’s 1984 big brother wants to know everything. The more information you allow Google to know, they more control they gain over your life.

Okay, but some people do like to use Google — after all, it’s still the most comprehensive public, and free, search engine available. Fortunately, there are other options, as well as preventative measures, that people can take to protect Google from tracking their web activities.

How Trackable Is Your Browser?

Panopticlick, a research project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, tests your browser to see what information it shares with other sites. The service is free and anonymous.

A Few Tips for Protecting Your Browsing

• Use a more secure browser, such as DuckDuckGo that doesn’t track your search results. They even have an informative piece that outlines their privacy policy (Google Tracks You. We Don’t). We dig DuckDuckGo. It’s now our go-to browser.
• Use Google’s tools to opt out of ad networks. This article explains how: “How to Prevent Google from Tracking You”
• Protect your YouTube searches (YouTube is owned by Google). This article explains how: “How to Prevent YouTube from Keeping a Record of the Videos You Watch”

Also, check out “Related Articles” at the bottom of this post.

Why Not Use a Proxy Service?

Although a proxy service, such as Anonymizer, hides a user’s IP address, it doesn’t necessarily anonymize the user’s personal information found in HTTP headers.

Have a great weekend, Writing PIs

Related articles

• New Search Engine DuckDuckGo Soars Thanks To Google’s Lack Of Privacy (googleexposed.wordpress.com)
• DuckDuckGo: Search Engine with an Eye for Privacy (pcworld.com)
• Tracking People: Google, Social Media and Surveillance (writingpis.wordpress.com)
• Protected Search Lets You Use Google Without Being Tracked (ghacks.net)
• Google privacy tips: how to avoid telling them too much (guardian.co.uk)