What does Google have on you?

[GreyGeek]

You can find out by logging into your gmail account and then in your browser going to
https://history.google.com/history
You might be amazed at how much they know about you. Time to cut your Google cord? I did a couple years ago.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/428835...tching-it-off/

As bad as Google is, Facebook is worse. They don't give you the option to change much, except to delete your account. Even then, if you touch another blue Facebook button ANYWHERE on the web for the next six months they will automatically restore your Facebook account. And, even if you cancel your Facebook account they will still follow you on the web everywhere you go, just like Google.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/166417...ows-about-you/

[whatthefunk]

They seem to only know that i watched some Youtube videos. That I can deal with.

[wizard10000]

...As bad as Google is, Facebook is worse.]

Twitter is even worse. I don't tweet often but do use Twitter as a newsfeed. I haven't found anything that worked better for newsfeeds, though. I follow ~150 things and for me it provides the most balanced news because I get news from everybody at the same time

[TWPonKubuntu]

GreyGeek, thanks for the links.

For me, they confirm what I already believe about the Mega Search Engine In The Sky...

WRT FaceBook(r) and Twitter(r), I refuse to chase the "carrot on a stick" which They wave in front of Their users. Not only is the carrot a cheap plastic fake, They lead their readers down Their roads to destinations They want the reader to see. To extend the analogy, They even provide the blinders to keep you from seeing anything except Their roadway.

In my earlier years, I was introduced to the idea of the invisible and all-knowing "THEY", the Powers That Be. Without actually giving a name or face to this mysterious entity which is supposed to be trusted and never questioned. Orwell's 1984 makes this point eloquently.

I see how Google(r), Facebook(r), Twitter(r) and the other big search engines and social media ARE part of that entity.

I'm not claiming to be all-knowing and enlightened, but I am conscious of being herded by those online resources.

We all make choices... Let them be your choices and not someone else's...

[dequire]

And IF we want to expand this thread a little, 1984 is coming from everywhere, not just the web.

The age of AI surveillance is here

[GreyGeek]

And IF we want to expand this thread a little, 1984 is coming from everywhere, not just the web.

The age of AI surveillance is here

And, for quite a few years:
https://www.space.com/2070-governmen...ans-space.html

There was a YouTUbe video several years ago that showed a satellite camera zooming down to a person in Salt Lake city, to such a resolution that you could clearly identify the face of the person.

The FBI and other gov agencies have been caught lying:

But, there are ways around being followed by cameras and their facial recognition softwarew:

and ...

less high tech:

That Americans have to resort to such devices to maintain their privacy shows how far the "Land of the Free and the home of the Brave" have fallen. I suspect, the way things are going, devices that defeat AI facial recognition in surveillance cameras will be outlawed, and their possession will be used as proof that you are an enemy of the state.

[TWPonKubuntu]

And, for quite a few years:
[URL]
...
The FBI and other gov agencies have been caught lying:
...

NO, Say it isn't so! My childhood dreams are crushed. I must go to my safe space immediately. Let me have my fantasies, please... .

Oh well, it was worth trying but reality keeps slapping me in the face these days... Guess I'll go back to using my slide rule and crystal radio set.

Ok, attempt at humor aside. It does look bleak in terms of personal privacy. I do like to use computers and the 'net (NOT the "interweb"), but I'm spending a lot of time and effort to counter the trend toward "Nineteen Eighty Four". More scary are those too young to recognize the problem and some are not so young, but just unaware.

[dequire]

Good point. It won't be us that's completely tangled in the web of the o̶u̶t̶e̶r̶-̶f̶r̶i̶n̶g̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶M̶a̶t̶r̶i̶x̶ 1984. It'll be those 30 and under who are either completely unaware or are perfectly groomed for such a world, having been issued smart phones since the age of 12. And, as the article I linked to above states, it all started via 911 and the subsequent creation of a national driver's license facial and demographic database. That creates the basis and launching point for everything else. And just think, the ultimate marriage, if you will, will be the meshing of all Gov't. data with that of our online footprints. Then truly nothing in our lives will be private except for maybe in the bathroom. Well, unless you take your phone into the bathroom with you...

[TWPonKubuntu]

...Then truly nothing in our lives will be private except for maybe in the bathroom. Well, unless you take your phone into the bathroom with you...

Think: "Smart Toilet" with camera and complete chemical analysis system...

I wonder if we have completely driven away anyone who wants to talk "Kubuntu"? This is not precisely "geek" news.

[GreyGeek]

...

I wonder if we have completely driven away anyone who wants to talk "Kubuntu"? This is not precisely "geek" news.

It is in the Geek News section and, it appears, only geeks understand the true significance of the loss of personal privacy and how it is driving us toward 1984.

[TWPonKubuntu]

GG; then I'm proud to be called a geek.

[vinnywright]

looks like (sense I stay logged in) ,,,,,,,all my Google searches ,,,,except what is done in a "private" window .

VINNY

[life0riley]

And IF we want to expand this thread a little, 1984 is coming from everywhere, not just the web.

The age of AI surveillance is here

Yes. It isn't the teleprompter. It's your cell phone!

[Simon]

Google doesn't "have" any info on Simon Tomoko because I don't own a Google account. I use an Mail.com service for my personal use also Duck Duck Go for most of my searches. If you don't sign in they technically don't know you. I know they can look up my IP address and track my movement with Google analytics. In the end, all I am to them is an IP number. I never give up my cell number online for any reason. I don't share a lot on Facebook either, I am told my friends who know me, that I a far too paranoid. Then I hear the same people complain about the number of sale calls they get on their cell phones.

If someone wants your information bad enough they will dig through the trash to find it. I don't believe there are that many people interested in who I am. Just companies that want to know what they can sell me.

[SpecialEd]

A very good read on the subject, may just change your mind. Bruce Schneier's Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World.