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Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

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Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#221

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

d1zzy wrote: post #174
freedom42 wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recently, Google shared data about Google Docs which led to an unnecessary arrest. "Police confirms that Disha was arrested after Google shared details." https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/disha-ravi-a...

Was the shared data as a result of a lawful request? Any company would have to comply in that case.

Any company would have to comply with the data that they held, perhaps, which is precisely why this comes up when suggesting that perhaps they should have a little less data in the first place.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#222

Post by bjornstar »

valiant55 wrote: post #165
martincmartin wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps has the wrong street names near me, so I looked for something from OpenStreetMap. But there's nothing that works with Android Auto. In fact, there are only two Android Auto navigation apps, Google Maps and Waze. Both owned by Google, and Waze seems happy to send me through the most confusing intersections if it thinks it will save 5 seconds of driving time.

I've submitted multiple corrections to Google Maps and all of them eventually were fixed. I even got a same day response one time, with the longest taking about 3 weeks. I haven't made any corrections recently. Have you attempted to submit feedback on the Maps site?

As counter anecdata, I've reported a concrete coatings company claiming to be inside of a post office. I've reported it several times over the course of several months and nothing has happened. See for yourself: https://goo.gl/maps/LvAZXpSJgURoUqYk8

And with the blackhole that is Google support, what's the point in feeding the beast? We're all better off using Open Street Map and not rewarding Google for their poor behavior.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#223

Post by JoBrad »

livre wrote: post #68
ricardbejarano wrote: post #11

Controversial opinion: Half the data Chrome collects is harmless, and the other half is up to the user to give up: - Location data: you are asked and must approve for Chrome to use (at least on macOS) - Financial data: you must enter it manually and click "save for future use". Could it be better? Sure! But I think DDG is exaggerating here. We're not _that_ bad.

Location data is sent by default to the default search engine and there's no way to disable that unless you deny location permissions from the OS to Chrome. If you want to use a map and give permission only to that (Bing maps for example) you have to allow Chrome to gather location data which will also be sent to the default search engine (usually Google). There's only the illusion of choice there (you can change the…

Edge’s privacy report on the iOS App Store does not include location data.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#224

Post by paulcapewell »

upofadown wrote: post #213
Crazyontap wrote: post #131

I guess the majority of people on HN already know this more or less. The problem is still this: We still don't have good alternatives to Google's products and services. 1) Android: Google still owns all our phones. Even on rooted phones it hard to remove google services that god know send so many requests containing whatnot to the eeee addresses. Just install no-root firewall and you will be amazed the amount of pend…

Switching from Gmail is basically zero effort. You configure Gmail to forward all your email to the new account. Done. Email is generically really great in this regard. Very little lockin.

This is true but I think the point is about not having your email touch Google's servers - forwarding from your Gmail account means Google still gets to see your incoming email.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#225

Post by Bancakes »

jasonvorhe wrote: post #161

A company that purchases data from another search engine (that most likely also uses aggregated personal data to deliver results) with just two products (search + browser) compares its app data usage to a behemoth that strives for the most personalized experience possible in exchange for personal data in order to display personalized ads. Google's apps offer opt-in voice search (solving Audio), optional end to end en…

Google just doesn't optimise their software and deployments. I can run searx, email, git, jitsi, invidious, and other various software on an old Xeon PC from aliexpress. Meanwhile youtube stores 10 versions of the same video on their platform, and dares bring up costs vs revenue arguments.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#226

Post by Bancakes »

abandonliberty wrote: post #189
leokennis wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is one good argument for Google, and that is it’s free as in beer. For most people, any price over $0 is a dealbreaker. However, assuming you’re willing to pay for privacy, switching e-mail is super easy. For example, from the Fastmail UI, you literally log in to your Google account and all your mail is transferred to Fastmail. Switching to DDG? It’s 95% as good. Switching to Apple Maps or OSM? It’s 95% as good…

> any price over $0 is a dealbreaker. The user pays for Google in the end, just not consensually. It's a closed loop. All the money ultimately comes from the users. Product or politics, all advertisers are expecting to get some return. Unfortunately it's in human nature to not want to pay. Search needs to be a utility that we all fund to make it the best tool for society.

Software is free to make. Why would you ever pay for software when there are free alternatives?

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#227

Post by Bancakes »

karinakarina wrote: post #198
Isthatablackgsd wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For search: Use Startpage - gives you Google results with privacy. FYI, Ads company brought up Startpage. Despite their public statement with privacy for Startpage, I don't trust them since they can 180 it without any repercussion.

(Startpage employee) Privacy policy hasn't changed and that's legally binding. "Marketing messages can claim almost anything, but a privacy policy has legal status." - Robert E.G. Beens, Startpage CEO and Co-founder If you have questions, let me know.

Yes, are you aware billion dollar corporations get away with leaking terabytes of information, so a smalltime ad company will get away with leaking data over time? Are you aware someone has to manually pursue startpage?

If I can't ssh into their servers and have a look-see or run my own instance, then their claims are unverifiable.

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#228

Post by afiori »

Crazyontap wrote: post #131

I guess the majority of people on HN already know this more or less. The problem is still this: We still don't have good alternatives to Google's products and services. 1) Android: Google still owns all our phones. Even on rooted phones it hard to remove google services that god know send so many requests containing whatnot to the eeee addresses. Just install no-root firewall and you will be amazed the amount of pend…

What is a "eeee addresses"?

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#229

Post by [deleted] »

Crash0v3rid3 wrote: post #44
sp332 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, officially almost three years ago. https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do...

What a terrible article. Look at what the last paragraph says despite the title: The updated version of Google’s code of conduct still retains one reference to the company’s unofficial motto—the final line of the document is still: “And remember… don’t be evil, and if you see something that you think isn’t right – speak up!”

[deleted]

Re: Google finally revealed how much personal data they collect in Chrome

#230

Post by gerash »

sp332 wrote: post #28
sys_64738 wrote: post #19

Is Google 'Do No Evil' dead?

Yes, officially almost three years ago. https://gizmodo.com/google-removes-nearly-all-mentions-of-do...

I always find it funny that some think we have this company that at some point decides to go rogue but because they had a "do no evil" in their motto they couldn't proceed. So they decide to remove it to unblock themselves.

That is nothing short of a cartoon movie villain.

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