Google collects data from its users in order to provide them with personalized services and improve their experience. This includes data such as your search queries, location data, and the content you create, like emails, contacts, calendar events, and photos. Google also uses this data to target ads to you based on your interests.
Google is open about the data it collects and insists that “your privacy is protected by responsible data practices”. You can view your own data if you know where to look and even download a package with all the Google data you have saved.
Your search queries tell a story about what you think, including your future plans. Google knows the food, books, movies, videos, and stores you like or don't like. It also knows who you've been with and when. If you use Google Maps or Waze for directions, your location data may still be compromised. If you take photos from Google, this shouldn't surprise you, as it starts categorizing the people and things in the photo.
Google also knows your age, gender and where you live and sometimes where you work. If you use Google Drive, Google knows exactly what kind of information you have and can block you from accessing your own Google Drive files if it suspects that you have “inappropriate” content.
Understanding how Google collects information about you is a great way to demonstrate how much the company knows about you. If you want to know exactly what you've been doing according to them, sign in to Google, go to My Activity and see for yourself.
If you'd rather be safe than sorry, you can install Firefox or use another browser to browse the web in general and you'll never have to sign in to Google with your browser. As the company behind the world's largest search engine, video sharing platform, email provider and mobile operating system, Google knows a lot of information about its users.
Google is open about the data it collects and insists that “your privacy is protected by responsible data practices”. Every time you visit one of these sites or apps, Google follows you with hyper-targeted ads. You can view your own data if you know where to look and even download a package with all the Google data you have saved.
It's important to understand what kind of information Google has access to in order to protect your privacy. By taking steps such as using a different browser for web browsing or being aware of what kind of information is being collected by Google services, you can ensure that your personal information remains secure.
