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Google – My Activity

myactivity.google.com

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Re: Google – My Activity

#211

Post by sample2 »

zwaps wrote: post #196
danShumway wrote: post #13

On this subject https://myaccount.google.com/purchases Turning off all of the controls under myactivity won't stop Google from scanning your emails to track any purchases you make. The only way to stop that is to switch off of Gmail.

Also, you can not delete it. I deleted all mails in my Gmail, things still show. Additionally, I can not even use the "download my data" options because it says "We can't verify it is you" and there is no way no authenticate myself. So basically, Google really likes my data and holds it hostage.

I'm seeing the same issue. I've deleted all mail from my gmail account a few months ago, but I still have purchases showing up. Clicking on `remove purchase` takes me into my old empty gmail account. It's one thing to store this data, it's another to prevent users from deleting it.

Re: Google – My Activity

#212

Post by JohnFen »

la_barba wrote: post #57
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I fully understand the objection here. The purchase list is a view over your email. They have the email, and they have the code to construct the purchase from the email. What possible additional security would there be in deleting the derived object if they still have the source material and the means to reconstruct the derived object? If you don't trust them to handle the derived object according to you…

I think the problem also is that Google scans incoming emails sent by non-google users who haven't agreed to such scanning. (Edit: also with personal domains, a sender may have no idea if this email will eventually find its way on Googles servers) > at least if you believe the news and Google's public statements, it doesn't use the contents of your email for ad targeting. True, but its important to note that it used…

> I think the problem also is that Google scans incoming emails sent by non-google users who haven't agreed to such scanning.

This is precisely why I avoid sending emails to gmail accounts. Fortunately, almost nobody that I personally know uses gmail.

Re: Google – My Activity

#213

Post by JohnFen »

la_barba wrote: post #187
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think the problem also is that Google scans incoming emails sent by non-google users who haven't agreed to such scanning. That is definitely not the problem. Email you send is owned by its recipient. Generally, the recipient can do what they want with it, including delegating to Google and allowing Google to scan it for purchase information. > They didn't make it clear if they removed information mined from previ…

>That is definitely not the problem. Email you send is owned by its recipient. Generally, the recipient can do what they want with it, including delegating to Google and allowing Google to scan it for purchase information. I don't agree that everyone thinks this is the case.

Legally speaking, in the US anyway, this is the case.

Re: Google – My Activity

#214

Post by JohnFen »

skybrian wrote: post #99
docker_up wrote: post #55

The only real solution is to fill your history and your Gmail purchases with fake emails and fake clicks and fake purchases. If you add so much random data then there's no way Google can pick up anything useful. I think the other tactic to defeat Google is to click on EVERY SINGLE AD you see. It will destroy their ad tracking capabilities and it will also destroy their business since they won't be able to tell what i…

You can turn off ad personalization here: https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated

But that doesn't turn off the data collection associated with it.

Re: Google – My Activity

#215

Post by JohnFen »

fallenatreus wrote: post #198
jodrellblank wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So insightful to call people babies and compare comments to facebook comments to make yourself feel superior. Great content filled putdown. so many fcking brilliant things I can do with my data. But what? All things you could have done, if you had configured your browser to save your searches on your terms. Not worried if Google tracks a skipped song history or an irrelevant app install on the gazillionth device I ow…

So insightful to call people babies and compare comments to Facebook comments to make yourself feel superior. Great content filled putdown. Not that I wanted to sound superior and compared comments to baby cry, just wanted to say that people are making a big fuss about something that is completely trivial. All things you could have done, if you had configured your browser to save your searches on your terms. No, I co…

> just wanted to say that people are making a big fuss about something that is completely trivial.

Completely trivial to you. I say that's fair and I respect your stance. It's also fair that there are people for whom this is not trivial at all. You should be able to respect their stance.

Re: Google – My Activity

#216

Post by JohnFen »

VikingCoder wrote: post #117
amelius wrote: post #5

Totally irresponsible. What if another person (colleague, family member, friend, spouse) opens this on your computer? This should be opt-in, not opt-out!

You logged in to Google. That's opting in.

It's not opting in if there's no informed consent.

Re: Google – My Activity

#217

Post by jwr »

VikingCoder wrote: post #137
jwr wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course. All the devices there are right in front of me and none of them accessed these videos. I also tried removing all devices and re-authorizing them again, just to make sure. Doesn't change a thing. These videos are not played on any of my devices.

That sounds like you're doing everything right. Next up, we get to wonder if you have a virus on your machine which is playing videos for you in the background. If the videos play at a regular interval, you could try turning one machine off during that time, and see if the events disappear from the log.

My machines are: a Mac, an iPhone and an iPad, all running latest OS versions.

I find this bizarre: by now I expect the next suggestions to be that I'm sleepwalking and watching these myself, rather than a more probable explanation that Google isn't doing something right (gasp!).

Re: Google – My Activity

#218

Post by VikingCoder »

JohnFen wrote: post #216
VikingCoder wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You logged in to Google. That's opting in.

It's not opting in if there's no informed consent.

It is your responsibility to understand the terms and conditions of creating and using a Google account.

If you're not informed, it's your fault. You did legally consent.

That said, could Google do better at explaining these things and giving controls and changing opt-outs to opt-ins? Sure.

But the argument you made is false.

Re: Google – My Activity

#219

Post by VikingCoder »

jwr wrote: post #132
jwr wrote: post #47

This is great. Now I can see in a single place how YouTube mixes other people's history with mine. It seems I watched "Funny Dinosaurs in Poop Fight", "Poop Cartoon 04: Fried Sh*t" and "Pirate Pete's Potty: Potty Training Video for Toddlers" yesterday. Fun. (I've been getting some other kid's watched videos in my history, and Google doesn't care about this kind of history mixing, my reports got me nowhere).

Replying in bulk: yes, I am sure it isn't from my device, and yes, I jumped through all the hoops, including changing passwords, logging out all devices, clearing histories, etc etc. It is not my device. I am getting somebody else's history. I also reported it to Google, providing additional details, late last year I think. No change. And I have done everything I could, short of deleting the Google account. So all I…

When you reported to Google, are your reports public on a Google Groups or something? Is there a bug you can link us to?

Re: Google – My Activity

#220

Post by JohnFen »

VikingCoder wrote: post #218
JohnFen wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not opting in if there's no informed consent.

It is your responsibility to understand the terms and conditions of creating and using a Google account. If you're not informed, it's your fault. You did legally consent. That said, could Google do better at explaining these things and giving controls and changing opt-outs to opt-ins? Sure. But the argument you made is false.

> It is your responsibility to understand the terms and conditions

Terms and conditions are written to be very opaque and to obscure what you're "agreeing" to. What you're saying is that you need to effectively be an attorney in order to be able to have informed consent.

> You did legally consent.

I didn't say otherwise. I was talking about actual consent, not legal consent.

> But the argument you made is false.

I disagree, obviously.

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