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Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

theguardian.com

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Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#31

Post by avoidit »

slenk wrote: post #4

But I willingly give my data to Google - they have (for some reason or another) kept my trust. Facebook broke my trust with data I didn't know they had collected.

Let us reserve our judgment on Google for now. But FB is far worse than what you say here. Suppose I group people into

1. Those who actively use Facebook and willingly tell it everything about their lives

2. Those who actively use Facebook and unwillingly tell it everything about their lives (who don't know what data it collects)

3. Those who once actively used Facebook

4. Those who have never created a Facebook (or WhatsApp or Instagram) account

The real issue is, FB likely has as much private data about group number 4 as group number 1 because of their shadow profiles (which they euphemistically refer to as "future Facebook users"). And their current or past employees seem to be a little too conveniently blind to this matter. See here for e.g.: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16676720

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#33

Post by ballenf »

danarmak wrote: post #24

This is nonsensical: > The data Google has on you can fill millions of Word documents. > Google offers an option to download all of the data it stores about you. I’ve requested to download it and the file is 5.5GB big, which is roughly 3m Word documents. This link [Google Takeout] includes your bookmarks, emails, contacts, your Google Drive files, all of the above information, your YouTube videos, the photos you’ve t…

Agree mostly, but was surprised that the archive includes long-deleted emails and Drive files. Unless the author was mistake -- haven't tested myself.

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#34

Post by DarkCrusader2 »

supermdguy wrote: post #18

My google activity history, youtube search/watch history, and location history are all completely empty because I've disabled all of it. I would recommend going through the privacy checkup[0] to control what does and doesn't get saved. [0] https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup

I also did it some time ago, but I have a feeling, with nothing to backup my claim, that they still log, store and analyse all my activity but just don't show it in the dashboard. I don't know how targeted ads are (because of ad block) but youtube doesn't suggest me anything based on watch history so I guess I might be wrong here.

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#37

Post by wu-ikkyu »

Klathmon wrote: post #26

The section labeled "Google has information you deleted" is a bit misleading. If files are in your "trash" they will be included in your takeout. If you clear your trash, they will not be included in your takeout (after a reasonable amount of time, if you "empty trash" then instantly go and make a new takeout bundle it might still be included). It's the same way with spam and email trash. It's given to you in your bu…

How do you know they're doing a hard delete server side and not just flipping a delete flag?

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#38

Post by adventured »

slenk wrote: post #4

But I willingly give my data to Google - they have (for some reason or another) kept my trust. Facebook broke my trust with data I didn't know they had collected.

I broadly agree. I've been willingly giving Google, via an account, as little data as necessary since I got a Gmail account ~14 years ago. I've never had a moment where I regretted what I've allowed them to have access to.

Like most people here with a Google Account, I've disabled as much of their harvesting as I can.

I've received an extraordinary amount of value from several of their products - such as maps, search, email, apps - and I never click on ads. The value received versus given disparity is beyond comically in my favor.

By comparison at this point I'd rate my value context with Facebook as net negative across my lifetime use of the product. The value has plunged the last four or five years. The first few years I used the product (after it became freely available to the masses), were slightly positive or quasi-benign at worst.

The difference in terms of product experience is largely that with Google, I don't deal with other assholes that routinely make my day worse, whether in the form of ugly politics, petty rage, or spam posts (whether commercial or personal posts).

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#39

Post by supermdguy »

DarkCrusader2 wrote: post #34
supermdguy wrote: post #18

My google activity history, youtube search/watch history, and location history are all completely empty because I've disabled all of it. I would recommend going through the privacy checkup[0] to control what does and doesn't get saved. [0] https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup

I also did it some time ago, but I have a feeling, with nothing to backup my claim, that they still log, store and analyse all my activity but just don't show it in the dashboard. I don't know how targeted ads are (because of ad block) but youtube doesn't suggest me anything based on watch history so I guess I might be wrong here.

That's probably true, but I at least feel a little more comfortable.

Re: Are you ready? This is all the data Facebook and Google have on you

#40

Post by ocdtrekkie »

danarmak wrote: post #24

This is nonsensical: > The data Google has on you can fill millions of Word documents. > Google offers an option to download all of the data it stores about you. I’ve requested to download it and the file is 5.5GB big, which is roughly 3m Word documents. This link [Google Takeout] includes your bookmarks, emails, contacts, your Google Drive files, all of the above information, your YouTube videos, the photos you’ve t…

Google has tons of data on you that isn't available in Takeout as well. (So does Facebook.) Bear in mind, these companies know which ads they've shown you and when, for example, and at least in one case, buys your credit card transaction history to compare your purchases with the ads you've seen.
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