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Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

businessinsider.com

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Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#201

Post by j0ba »

QuadrupleA wrote: post #74

Google had a brilliant advertising business with AdWords originally, where the ads were simply based on the search term and not a bunch of Orwellian surveillance on the person searching. From the research I've seen, all this privacy-invading crap doesn't even improve ad performance much - it's small incremental gains at best. And per this article, those gains are clearly coming at the expense of user trust and goodwi…

https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/

Maybe they are more than just an ad company?

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#202

Post by QuadrupleA »

nom wrote: post #194
QuadrupleA wrote: post #74

Google had a brilliant advertising business with AdWords originally, where the ads were simply based on the search term and not a bunch of Orwellian surveillance on the person searching. From the research I've seen, all this privacy-invading crap doesn't even improve ad performance much - it's small incremental gains at best. And per this article, those gains are clearly coming at the expense of user trust and goodwi…

Can someone point me in the right direction regarding the mentioned research? My feeling is still that google know what they are doing when it comes to ads.

See the other comments in this thread for a couple studies.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#203

Post by tomohawk »

the only way to fix this is to make it so that any information about a person is owned by that person, regardless of who is storing it or how it was collected. companies should have to pay rent to the data owners every year.

the only exception should be information collected by the government with a court issued warrant.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#204

Post by deadmutex »

Drew_ wrote: post #165
julianmarq wrote: post #135

I saw some people saying that this makes them want to switch towards iphones next. I'm not gonna lie, I considered it for a moment too, like a year ago... But apple is now engaging in its own share of dark patterns and is now collecting data too. There have been multiple articles on the matter shared here even. Thinking that apple is better than google for privacy (or, even if it is right now , that it will remain so…

I've considered switching to iPhone many many times mostly just for iMessage and Facetime. Every time I change my mind after just a few minutes of considering what switching to iOS entails.

Yeah, I am not a huge fan of company lock-in. Apple makes their money on hardware, so they try really hard to keep people locked in [1].

"c. However, Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering and the executive in charge of iOS, feared that "iMessage on Android would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones". (PX407, at '122.)"

Yeah, Apple doesn't really seem very consumer friendly as people in this thread suggest.

[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/09/epic-apple-no-imessage-...

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#205

Post by danlugo92 »

JamesDeepDown wrote: post #154
_trampeltier wrote: post #65

At the same time, Google think allways I'm in germany on work, because our company has just one large internet connection for all company users from the whole world. And google does not even let me change the country.

Googles forced country localization is IMBECILICLY STUPID. I am currently in a foreign country. My English OS laptop with English browser has been logging in to gmail in English for years, and I ask Google search to show results in English for 5 years and EVERY TIME it tries to show the local language. Going to google.com is IGNORED, why?? Google engineers are paid $$$$$$$$ of dollars to implement THE MOST STUPID COD…

Funny, I've been using google since forever in an spanish speaker country and it always correctly (when logged in) shows me results in english (I have it set it to english).

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#207

Post by trulyme »

ipaddr wrote: post #188
graphtrader wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the real rub to me. It would be one thing if you rip off all my data but I am constantly seeing ads for cool things I would never have found otherwise and can't wait to buy. Instead the ads are always shit that I never even consider. If things were not tailored I would probably randomly run across products that are just outside my current taste but at least spark some interest.

The one who pays the most is the one who gets the spot. Tailored to make the most profit and you are part of a group of people who buy 'x' product. The group might be males, 20-25 year olds, sailors from Malta. You would expect ads for sailing equipment or vacations or beer. This group get's an ads for Corn Flakes instead. Why because Kellogg want to attract more young males and they may target a spot like sailing wh…

This! Customer is served, except the customer is not the site visitor, it is the advertiser.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#208

Post by meltedcapacitor »

nom wrote: post #194
QuadrupleA wrote: post #74

Google had a brilliant advertising business with AdWords originally, where the ads were simply based on the search term and not a bunch of Orwellian surveillance on the person searching. From the research I've seen, all this privacy-invading crap doesn't even improve ad performance much - it's small incremental gains at best. And per this article, those gains are clearly coming at the expense of user trust and goodwi…

Can someone point me in the right direction regarding the mentioned research? My feeling is still that google know what they are doing when it comes to ads.

Or it's the "measure everything" culture having become self-reinforcing regardless of results or collateral damage.

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#209

Post by kaba0 »

Karsteski wrote: post #47
C-x_C-f wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI you can install GrapheneOS on a Pixel (3rd to 5th gen)

Or even more friendly, CalyxOS. Works perfectly, easy to install and very few problems in the 6 months I've been using it

On which reasonably modern/performant phones can one install them? I did bought an iphone as my latest phone, because Google-riddled android is ridiculous (even though I like the ecosystem much better. Iphones can feel like some embedded software that only allows a few possibilities), but mainly because I could not find a phone on which installing some AOSP fork is safe, won’t delete important firmware (I believe quite a few mobiles will delete proprietary camera firmware)

Re: Google made it nearly impossible for users to keep their location private

#210

Post by kaba0 »

eingaeKaiy8ujie wrote: post #70
sunstone wrote: post #3

I've had a string of Google phones going back to the Nexus 5x but, for the very reasons laid out in this article, my next phone will likely be from Apple. That will be my first Apple product.

Apple may protect you from Google and Facebook but it won't protect you from itself. iOS is completely closed and you can't verify if it respects your privacy. Don't trust Apple. Open source software is a fundamental requirement for privacy. GrapheneOS is one of the best alternatives.

Which phone do you recommend going with it?
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