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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

#61

Post by at-fates-hands »

cjslep wrote: post #27
untog wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I may be alone in this, but I expect that everything I do on the Internet is done in public. Nothing new here. So how do you send private messages? Carrier pigeon? Even Signal uses the internet, after all.

I bought an entry level fountain pen, some ink, some lightly cotton blended paper and stamps. Then I got hooked. I learned how to fold paper into its own envelope. I bought supple wax and sent a design for a custom wax seal stamp, so now I can mail a letter that is wax sealed domestically or internationally. My friends love getting letters in the mail that's not spam. And a few even write back. One made his whole env…

I totally subscribe to this novel idea. However, I hear rumblings about doing away with the USPS for various reasons. It's nice to know I'm not the only one still using some "analog" methods to communicate.

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

#62

Post by Splines »

skummetmaelk wrote: post #28
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

Has there ever been any statement from anyone even remotely involved with data collection at Google on what "pausing" these collection options actually does internally? I somehow find it hard to believe that they don't just collect it anyway and only "pause" displaying inferences made using the data to you.

I don't have any evidence whatsoever but I speculate that between the options of:

1. collecting data and hiding it during times it was paused

2. checking if data collection is paused during collection time and keeping it/throwing it away

Option (2) is the easiest and most foolproof. For (1), all it takes is a single tiny bug in any code that handles your data history and their whole privacy stance is shot.

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

#63

Post by acobster »

This person stored their PGP private key on Google Drive, which they use "to encrypt" emails. I'm glad the author is security-conscious enough to know what PGP is, I guess. And that they deleted it from Drive (didn't say why, hopefully they came to their senses about the more-than-usual amount of trust they were placing in Google).

Is there a valid use case for "encrypting" email with a private key? I guess signing a message is technically encryption, but it's not typically called that, right? I'm hoping their use of "encrypt" in this context is just an error, and that tech reporters at the Guardian understand how key pairs work...

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

#64

Post by Klathmon »

wu-ikkyu wrote: post #55
Klathmon wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't. But from what I have seen Google takes infosec very seriously, and will fully delete information when they say they delete information. They even point out that it could "linger" for (IIRC) 90 days after you delete it in backups and other replicated copies, but after that should be fully and completely deleted.

Hopefully they so take infosec as seriously as you assume they do. However, we have repeatedly seen profits prioritized over security in the corporate world with negligible repercussions when the data is inevitably compromised.

I knowingly and happily give my information to Google, and I trust that they do not overstep their bounds when I tell them not to collect something.

If Google ever gives me a reason to not trust them I won't. But thus far they have been okay in my mind and I'm happy with the services I received and the tradeoffs made with regard to my information.

I fully expect more nastygrams and threats from people for saying this, because it happens every time I say I trust a company.

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

#65

Post by _zero »

untog wrote: post #8
rossdavidh wrote: post #7

Took advantage to go onto Google and give it even more info on what ads they should (and should not) show me. That's probably not what the Guardian expected/wanted me to do. I may be alone in this, but I expect that everything I do on the Internet is done in public. Nothing new here.

> I may be alone in this, but I expect that everything I do on the Internet is done in public. Nothing new here. So how do you send private messages? Carrier pigeon? Even Signal uses the internet, after all.

If I want to send a private message, I'd use Signal since the cellphone company has logs of your text messages. I really like that there's an option to delete your messages after a certain amount of time. Though I only use it over WiFi.

There's also Tor, which I use in combination with an obscure e-mail service that allows you to create accounts and login over Tor.

If you want to encrypt the actual email message, then I use GPG, but it isn't always practical.

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

#66

Post by samschooler »

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.

One thing I like to do is just leave them all on, but minimize my contact with Google's services. Then I check in every few months just to confirm they haven't collected anything on me.

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

#67

Post by ForHackernews »

dwighttk wrote: post #47

I was actually surprised going down the list at how little Google has on me. I mean, I've used Duckduckgo for a long time and never used Android, but forgot I had turned off ad personalization and deleted youtube and search history. I'm surprised they didn't have anything in search or youtube because I deleted the history long enough ago that I didn't remember doing it, so I've successfully stayed away from using the…

Do you think they actually delete your history when you turn those features off? I assumed they just stopped displaying it to you.

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

#70

Post by ForHackernews »

teamhappy wrote: post #51

Kind of shitty that they didn't mention that you can delete the data from your Google account and disable further data collection (at least for the stuff mentioned in the article). I guess that would have made the article more informative and less scary.

Can you? Does that actually delete data from Google's database? Or does it just flip a switch so the won't serve you "personalized" ads based on that data?
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