Google has envisioned a future based on your personal data. Google stores gigabytes of your data. How to check what exactly he knows about you? Google collects user data

Google does not hide the fact that it will know, if not everything, then a lot about its users. Even when you created your account, you were warned that they would track your search history, YouTube views, audio information, purchases, contacts, and call data. But all this is spelled out in a multi-page agreement, which not everyone can read to the end.

Google explains that all this is done in order to adapt to users and make products more convenient. For example, provide customized offers, content or applications. But most importantly, the information is used to select the most tailored advertising for you.

Why Google Surveillance Is Dangerous

One of the best ways to limit the data Google collects by default is because your personal information could fall into the wrong hands. And not only if someone hacks your account.

Your information may be leaked to the Internet. It's your own fault

So, in July, the Yandex search engine indexed files from the Google Docs service that were not protected by privacy settings. , recorded in Google Docs files. The first thing users found through Yandex search was passwords. Passwords to personal and work accounts on social networks, email and other services were made publicly available. In addition, electronic wallet numbers were found in the documents. However, all password-protected documents did not appear in the search results. The leak occurred due to the negligence of the users themselves.

Your information may be passed on to strangers. Completely legal

The user agreement clearly states who Google can share your confidential information with:

To private companies, if you have given your consent. Example from Google: “If you use Google Home to contact a driver service, we will provide your address to this service only with your permission.”
To Google affiliates and other trusted companies and individuals to process on Google's behalf.
Law enforcement agencies, security forces, FSB.
Publishers, advertisers, developers. Example from Google: “We provide this information so that users can study trends in the use of our services. We also allow select partners to collect information from your browser or device through their own cookies and other technologies and use it to serve ads and measure their effectiveness.”

Why does Google track you?

The task of Google, like any commercial structure in this world, is to make money. One way is to sell advertising more effectively.

To do this, the service collects a huge amount of information about everything. After all, you register and use the product for free, but for every free product you have to pay, one way or another.

Excerpt from Google's user agreement:

How to get rid of Google tracking If you are simply fed up with Google advertising that offers you products that match your requests (you never know what and when you were looking for and don’t want to advertise it), then you can disable personalization.

For this . But this does not mean that Google will stop collecting information on you. It will just be less of a bother. However, any user can block Google

not only offer advertising, but also collect information. So that Google stops tracking completely and completely

(at least according to the parameters that are officially spoken about), it’s just that it’s now enabled by default.

If you are ready to provide information about your preferences to YouTube, but do not want to be intercepted, then the following instructions are for you:

To access your personal file, you need to log into your account,

Here you can find settings for search queries and viewed pages; places you have visited; information from devices; voice requests and commands; the video you searched for and watched on YouTube. All data from your phone's microphone is stored.

All you have to do is say “OK, Google” once, and everything that interests you will become known to advertisers.

Internet companies make money from the data of their users; knowledge of our preferences allows them to show us the most relevant advertising. Every user action on the Internet is tracked. . Now we have figured out what useful things can be extracted from the database collected by Google.

The origins of the creation of the search engine google.com were a scientific project of Stanford students Larry Page and Sergey Brin. In March 1996, they launched their first search robot, and on September 15, 1997, they registered the domain www.google.com. The company was officially founded on September 4, 1998, and in October 2015, Google Inc. reorganized into the international conglomerate Alphabet Inc. In less than 20 years, the holding’s technological products were not used only by those who had never accessed the Internet. Now the company has more than a hundred different services, programs and applications, which represent an entire ecosystem.

All information is linked to your Gmail account. The principle is quite simple: applications and services provide more features or do not work at all without authorization, and upon first launch they ask for permission to collect personal data to improve the operation of the algorithms. Surveillance can be disabled by sacrificing some convenience (sometimes without loss at all), but, as practice shows, almost no one reads the license agreement. Your mobile phone tells the most about you, especially on the Android platform.

First of all, the company collects data to sell more personalized advertising. Also, collecting information about the operation of applications helps speed up and improve their functionality. Each user becomes an almost free tester, and this significantly reduces the final cost of the product.

What does Google know about you?

Google may know more about its users than their close friends. In addition, the “good corporation” stores information that you have long forgotten.

Here is a partial list of user data stored by Google: name; floor; birthday; personal numbers and contacts; search queries and surfing the Internet; preferences and hobbies; movement in the real world, including favorite places, place of work, what route you take to get there and what transport you use; in some cases, the system has a recording of your voice and even the ability to identify you from a photo.

In the Google account settings, all information is distributed in three main sections "Security and Entry", "Confidentiality" And "Account settings".

Find the lost, limit the suspicious

In chapter "Security and Entry" Can strengthen security your account; change your password and add a backup email; according to the prompts step by step find lost phone, on which your account is used, and if the device is on the Android platform, you can block it and write a message to the finder.

Be sure to check on which devices, at what time and even in what place your account is used, as well as suspicious activities. If you notice anything strange, you should immediately change your password, and for reliability you can add two-step authentication;

At the very bottom of the section security there is a switch that is responsible for automatically blocking untrusted applications; you can also perform a manual audit in the subsection "Applications that have access to the account". If you click on any applications in the list that appears, you will see detailed information about what privileges the program has. It’s worth taking a closer look at the list and disabling what you haven’t used for a long time or don’t trust.

Google knows where you were last summer

Confidential section- a real find for a spy. To get started, in a couple of clicks you can rewrite personal information.

All contacts from mail and applications, as well as phone numbers from synchronized devices are located in the corresponding tab. In the “More” section of the side menu, you can make a copy or, conversely, download new contacts from the archive and other services, and the tab just above will show who you often communicate with.

Then it is useful to look into the settings tracking your activities. You can prohibit or, conversely, allow the collection of information from devices, the transfer of search history, locations, voice control and YouTube views. Each item has a short description, and the decision is made in one click on the slider on the right.

In a separate window you can see the history of your actions: search queries, including voice queries, videos watched and sites visited. The search bar has a built-in filtering function by service name, topic and date. Using the same criteria, you can clear your history by clicking on the three dots in the upper right corner of each block or using a special history deletion tab.

Timeline in Google Maps shows the places you have visited. You can see when you were there by double-clicking on the mark. Also, in the menu located in the upper left corner, you can select a day, month, year to view your route for that day, but not earlier than when you were this function is enabled. Every year the service improves: the later the chronology, there is more and more accurate information in it, right down to the transport you used. If necessary, each entry can be deleted by clicking on the trash can icon.

myaccount.google.com

There is no separate link to Google Photos settings in the menu, although Android devices usually have the program by default. If desired, it can also be installed on Apple products. Many users do not notice that the application, synchronizing with a Google account, stores photos online. Only the account owner has access to them, but in the settings you can create shared albums. The quality of the saved photos is also selected there. The original one takes up Google Drive space, while the compressed one has no restrictions. In the settings, you can give permission to group photos with similar faces, this will make it possible to link a person’s photos to his contact.

The service itself is quite convenient, it allows you to find photos by date, location, or you can simply enter what you are looking for in the search bar. If you want to delete everything from Google servers, be sure to disable synchronization in the application on your devices so that photos do not disappear from them.

Screenshot photos.google.com

What are they advertising to you and why?

Advertising preferences collected based on your gender, age and interests. If the list of interesting topics includes something that you are not interested in or do not like, then each of the items can be rewritten or blocked at your discretion.

If you deactivate the switch in the right corner of the top panel, personalized advertising in Google partner networks will be disabled, and using the link at the bottom of the page - on third party services.

Users are given the right to install a plugin from Google in their browser; it will block ad personalization, even if it is enabled in their account settings: for Chrome, Mozila Firefox and Internet Explorer.

It is worth remembering that in both cases advertising will not disappear anywhere: it will be less relevant; Some ads cannot be blocked or muted; most often the ads will be based on the content of the open web page.

There are applications that completely block ads in the browser, but then the sites you visit will stop making money.

How to delete and back up all your data

In the depths of the privacy settings there is a transition to your personal account. It provides a list of main services and their contents. Each tile is clickable; when clicked, it displays detailed information, and in the right corner of the drop-down list, an ellipsis will open an additional menu, which for some services allows you to download all the information or delete it.

To download everything that Google stores about you in a few clicks, you need to go to the export menu. In it you can select the services you need, or just click next, and then an additional menu will appear. In it you can select the archive format (including splitting the archive into several parts), as well as a service or download link. An old account can collect tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of data. Therefore, it takes from a couple of hours to several days to create an archive. When it is ready, the system will notify you by email.

Screenshot takeout.google.com

The data deletion menu is divided into deleting accounts in services YouTube, Google+, Play Games and Gmail. The user also has the option total destruction In chapter "Account settings", where you will be asked twice for confirmation, since a complete wipe will affect many useful services associated with the account. For example, online banking can be linked to Gmail. Just in case, you can leave a recovery path by adding a backup email and phone number in the appropriate columns.

For emergencies, if something happens and you won't use your account for a long time, choose a friend or relative who will have access to your data. In the menu you need to select the period of inactivity (from 3 to 18 months), a list of data and the person who will receive it. After the specified period, the account will be blocked, and the trusted person will receive an SMS message with access to the mail. You can also specify that everything be destroyed automatically 3 months after deactivation.

When you take actions on Google services, we collect data about them. To learn more about what information we collect, why we do it, and how you can manage your information, read our Privacy Policy. It also explains why the retention period for different types of data varies.

You can delete some data yourself at any time, others are deleted automatically, and we store others for a long time if necessary. If you delete any data, we will follow specific rules. As a result, your data completely disappears from our servers or is stored there only in anonymized form. How Google anonymizes data

What information do we keep until you delete it?

There are many tools that let you manage the data stored in your Google Account. In particular, you can:

delete entries on the My Actions page;
delete photos, documents and other content;
remove various products from your Google account;
Delete your Google account completely.

The data will remain in your Google Account until you delete it. If you use our services without signing in to your Google Account, you may also have the option to delete some information, such as information about your use of our services through a device, browser, or app.

Data that is stored for a certain period of time

In some cases, we do not provide the opportunity to delete any data, but store it for a certain period of time. The retention period for all types of information depends on the purpose for which it was collected. For example, to ensure that service interfaces are displayed correctly on the screens of different devices, we can store information about the height and width of the browser for up to 9 months. Some data is anonymized during a specified storage period. For example, advertising data stored in server logs is stripped of the IP address after 9 months and the cookie information is removed after 18 months.

Information that is retained until your Google account is deleted

Some information helps us better understand how we can improve our services and how users experience them, so we store it for as long as your Google Account is active. For example, if you delete a specific Google search from your My Activity page, information about how often you search may be saved, but not what you searched for. Once your Google account is closed, information about your search usage frequency is also deleted.

Information that is stored for a long time for specific purposes

We retain some information for specific purposes for long periods of time as required by law or business requirements. For example, if Google makes a payment to you or accepts funds from you, the corresponding data is retained for as long as necessary for tax or accounting purposes. Some purposes for which data may be stored for a long period of time:

Secure and complete data deletion

Once a user has erased their Google Account, we immediately begin removing it from the service and all of our systems. First of all, we exclude any possibility of viewing the data and using it to personalize your experience with Google services. For example, if you delete a video you watched on your My Activity page, YouTube will no longer be able to tell you when you stopped playing that video.

Next, we are launching a process to securely and completely remove data from our storage systems. Thanks to it, we can provide protection against accidental data loss and peace of mind for users. The entire procedure usually takes about two months. This often includes a period to allow data to be restored if it was deleted unintentionally. It usually lasts up to one month.

If you've contacted Google by contacting support, providing feedback, or reporting an error, we may store that information.

Examples

You've submitted a review in Gmail, Drive, or another Google app

It is known that the American search engine collects information about users and their actions. But what exactly does Google know about you? How to delete information about yourself and your actions from the Google server? Information in our article.

What Google Knows About You

To analyze the collected data, you need to go to this address. According to Google, this information is available only to the account holder, which is indicated on the website.

For an Android mobile phone, the list of recorded user actions is impressive. Everything is taken into account: from watching videos on YouTube to opening applications.

Open More Google Actions and select Location History (manage history hyperlink).

All your movements around the world over the past few years are collected here.

How to delete Google user statistics

From the menu on the left, select Select Uninstall Option.

Select the period and criteria for selecting the actions to be deleted and click the Delete button.

How dangerous is Google surveillance?

It is clear that when using the services of any company, you trust it to collect certain data about yourself. If you want to prevent the pages you visit from being recorded, use secure browsers or Incognito mode. You can additionally disable the collection of movement information on your phone.

It’s worth looking at what the American service knows about you to understand the importance of ensuring the security of your account. If you have a simple password, change it to a more complex one. Be more responsible about your safety. But if anything happens, we now know where to erase all the accumulated information.

The practical benefit of such surveillance is the ability to control your child’s account if there is access to it. You can see what videos he watches, what sites he goes to. At the same time, there is no serious violation of the privacy of correspondence. Google will record that you used the VKontakte application, but will not be able to read the messages.

Business details displayed on Google come from a variety of different sources. They’re meant to provide customers with the most complete and up-to-date information possible. The details associated with your business come from the information you provide when creating and updating a verified business listing, reports from users, and other sources.

Information in Google My Business

For example, if customers search for a restaurant you manage, they can find information you’ve added, such as when you’re open and where you’re located. They also might get information you haven’t added, such as a link to your menu or photos customers have uploaded of meals they’ve enjoyed. The combination of information provided by you and other sources lets customers make informed decisions about your location. Users may also find personalized recommendations and matches based on their preferences.

How Google sources business information

There are 4 main sources of information that you may find in your business listing:

You: Information you've added about your business. You can add, edit, and remove this information as it changes to keep customers up to date and showcase your products and services. Learn how to manage your business information.
Your website: Information from your business’s official website.
Users: Information from people who use Google services. Google gets a wide variety of information about businesses from its users. This user-generated information includes reviews, popular times, and photos. Your Business Profile is updated when someone takes an action like leaving a review, uploading a photo, or reporting a problem.
Third-party sources: Information from other places online. If Google finds information about your business that could be helpful to customers, it may be added to your listing. This can include links to restaurant menus, social profiles, hotel amenities, or booking/ticketing availability.

Information in local search results

Google uses business information to help surface relevant local search results across Google, such as in Google Maps and Search.

For example, if you own a hair salon, your business might appear in local search results for people who search for “salons near me” or “salons open now” because you’ve provided information that includes your address and hours.