Google Knows All About You Even If You Don't Use It's Products
Someone forwarded me this today and even though it's publicly known that Google knows pretty much everything about us if we use it's products, it's always a little bit unnerving to realise how much it knows about us whether or not we use it's products.
There is no such thing as privacy anymore or is there? The only way we can be off-the-grid is probably if we live on an island disconnected from the rest of the world with no electronic devices or communication. That's not feasible for most is it?
Ofcourse, we can operate an account anonymous under a pseudonym on any social media platform. However, the data continues to be recorded by the devices that we use no matter how our approach is. If AI and ML gets advanced enough chances are it can figure out who the real person hiding behind a pseudonym actually is.
You might want to zoom in if possible to see the details mentioned in the image. It was made using data collected by Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Engineering Douglas C. Schmidt studied Google’s data collection practices under a “day in the life” scenario of an Android phone user. The 55-page study, commissioned by Digital Content Next, a trade group representing digital publishers, also detailed data mining over a 24-hour period from an idle Android phone with Chrome running in the background.
Google's Android OS collects a lot more data as compared to an iPhone. But in the day and age of social media and incredible use cases for modern smartphones and applications, it's extremely hard to resist the urge to use our devices to their fullest potential and in doing so we give away the last bits of our personal lives to app owners or more specifically to Google who is tracking our every move.
Whether we want it or not we cannot avoid interaction with Google altogether. Ofcourse, a few of us can do it if we really wanted it but not the masses. The convenience and comfort of using Google, Apple, Microsoft etc far exceeds the cons of being tracked and your data being collected for many in the world.
How do you feel about this, especially after reading through the image and the link to Schmidt's study linked here.
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This is why I turn the data/WiFi ON on my phone only so long as I'm using it for browsing, chatting, streaming etc because one never knows what info from one's idle phone Google might be collecting and sending over the internet to their servers. If suppose the data is on and someone calls me, I don't receive the call, rather I first turn the data OFF and then call back the person hehe. There's always this thing in my head that Google will record everything I talk if it has an internet connection to its server.
It's funny, at one point I noticed a little "location data from GPS' on a google search so I turned the GPS off and then it was like "location data from wifi" but even if you turn that off you can be tracked by cell towers.
Cell tower tracking can only give away your location. I personally am not much worried about my location but rather about the things I text, who I communicate with, what do I search, what do I browse etc that have a great potential to be misused.
That's an easy enough fix with burner phones, I also use duck duck go and firefox to stay off the google grid.
But you know what, my mobile data is off most of the time and yet, when I am somewhere where some music is being played in the background , my phone catches that and show me the name of the song. So I assume we are being recorded all the time, irrespective of our data being on/off !
Yikes, that's pretty weird. Never heard of such a thing before.
And now, Steem is fully aware of us too, information in blockchain could live forever.
Posted using Partiko iOS
No it's not the same thing as Google harnessing our data.
but if Google wanted this data they could make a copy.
Jep this is very true... but lot not want know this, and I not know why. If I go say something same they get mad and say not they problem. 😶👈 and when I ask ... when probelm up are you go think then ???
I know very well that I'm being tracked. But I'm perfectly ok with it as it always appears to me to be a boon. We can hardly do anything about it as most of us are busy doing other things leaving behind all the authority to Google.
I'm too random, a little bit like prime numbers....... How to predict...
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We live in smart time and of course it's hard to hide our data from our devices. I think not all of us worry about data that their smartphone colects about them. But I also knew couple people who even don't trust to bank apps numbers of their debit cards. We are so different, but if it'll be need I think that I can hide my data from this system. And don't forget that Nokia 3310 or the same phones can still work and they won't transfer anything spesial about you to somebody.
Posted using Partiko Android
The only way we can be off-the-grid is probably if we live on an island disconnected from the rest of the world with no electronic devices or communication. That's not feasible for most is it?
I read an article recently about a guy who has managed to go almost completely off the grid. He has LLCs that are registered in states that don't require a name for all of his property and uses only burner phones and a VPN. He purchased a property just to have a mail box because the only thing that he actually had to have a real name and address for was to register his vehicles. He has a separate dedicated GPS unit in his car and never uses phones for that. He wears a disguise when he goes out in public.
If I remember correctly everything he did ended up costing like 20k.
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