• Table Of Contents

• Introduction
• What Google Knows About You
• How Google Uses Your Information
• Protecting Your Privacy While Using Google
• 12 Easy Steps to Protect Your Privacy on Google
• Helpful Online Resources
• References

Introduction

In 1998, two Stanford University graduate students named Larry Page and Sergey Brin began Google in a friend’s Menlo Park, California garage. Today, that same startup is an international public corporation, running over one million servers worldwide and processing over one billion search requests daily. [9] Google specializes in Internet search, cloud computing, advertising tools, productivity software, and more recently, the operating system for the Android mobile phone. In addition, Google owns other well-known sites, including YouTube, Blogger and Orkut. [9]

Often people are unaware that Google saves all search queries. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what the Internet giant Google knows about you, and what exactly they’re doing with the data they collect.

What Google Knows About You

According to Google’s Privacy Policy, the company collects personal information that users provide when signing up for a Google account. This information may include your name, email address, and your billing information (if using Google Adwords or Google Apps). Also, if you visit Google’s main page, the company saves your web requests, Internet Protocol (IP) address, interaction with the service, what type of browser you use, your browser’s set language, as well as the date and time of your request. Google may also collect communications with their company, SMS messages sent or received using one of Google’s services, location data, cookies used for advertising services, and third party application data. [14] In fact, Google may also know your schedule if you use Google Calendar, what videos you are watching on YouTube, what books you’ve recently read via Google Books, and they may even have transcripts of your telephone messages through Google Voice. [19]

In other words, Google knows a whole lot about you.

“Google knows more about you than your mother,” said Kevin Bankston, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Google, he continued, “is expecting consumers to trust it with the closest thing to a printout of their brain that has ever existed.” [19]

Google claims that they only share your personal information with outside companies if they have your consent, [14] but users don’t always realize that they have opt-out abilities and as a result, may have unknowingly opted into allowing their information to be shared with third parties.

Then, there’s cloud computing. Google Apps is a software package designed specifically for businesses, educational institutions, and cities to purchase. The package is not installed on individual computers but rather on Google servers accessed via the Internet. This concept is commonly referred to as “cloud computing,” and privacy advocates warn of problems that may arise from it. Indeed, Google experienced a huge privacy breach in 2009 when they accidentally shared users’ Documents and Spreadsheets (Google Docs) with contacts who were never granted access. [16] Since then, Google has modified Google Docs’ visibility settings, making all documents now private unless the user says otherwise. [4]

How Google Uses Your Information

Search Engine Queries

Google states that they store your search engine queries to improve their search results and to “maintain security.” [14] For example, you may notice that if you incorrectly spell something in the Google search window, Google offers a “Did you mean ___?” suggestion. Google’s ability to provide more relevant results is based on their examination of previously used data logs. In other words, if the majority of people spell singer Rihanna’s name as “Rianna,” they will ask those users if they meant to type “Rihanna.” Additionally, Google searches data logs to ensure that the order of their results is fitting. If most users click on the 2^nd link instead of the first, Google will modify their order.

Google saves your search engine logs for 9 months and cookies after 18 months before anonymizing them.  To remove items from the Web History associated with your Google account, follow these easy steps:

1. Log into your Google account.
2. Click “My Account” on the upper right corner of your screen.
3. Click “Web History.”
4. Click “Remove items.” Now, you are in edit mode.
5. Select any items you wish to remove and click the “Remove” button. You may also choose to clear your entire Web History here. [14]

If you don’t have a Google account, your search engine is still customized based on a cookie connected to your browser. To disable this personalization, follow these steps:

1. Click “Web History” on the top right corner of your search results page. A new page will open.
2. Click “Disable customizations based on search activity.” Remember, this disabling will be in place for anybody who uses the same browser and computer as you.
3. Keep in mind that you’ll have to disable these customizations again after you clear out your browser cookies, since clearing your Google cookies automatically turns on these types of customizations. [22]

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool provided to website owners that helps them understand how visitors interact with their website. Specific visitor information is collected anonymously; however, Google does provide IP geolocation data to website owners. This means that website owners using Google Analytics will learn the exact geographic location of the computer used to connect with their site. [14]

In response to privacy concerns, Google has developed the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on as a way for users to remove their site visits from being collected by Google Analytics.  It is an add-on feature and must be downloaded and installed onto your computer to work with your current web browser. Currently, it is available for Internet Explorer (versions 7 and 8), Google Chrome (4.x and higher), and Mozilla Firefox (3.5 and higher).

Behavioral Advertising

With detailed profile information of its users, Google began what’s called “behavioral advertising” in 2009 in which they use your web activity history to create highly targeted ads to display on your screen. [18]. To opt out of this type of advertising, you may edit your interests and demographics that Google has associated with you here.

Protecting Your Privacy While Using Google

In addition to the online privacy protection steps mentioned within the last section, there are many other ways that individuals can protect their privacy while using Google technologies. As you can imagine, each Google tool poses different privacy risks from the next and as such, requires separate steps to fully protect privacy. Below we’ve examined several important privacy dangers you should be aware of and what you can do to take action.

Gmail

Google has been vigorously promoting their cloud computing software package, Google Apps, to various businesses and schools in the hopes that they’ll be adopted. In 2010, however, the University of California Davis made news when they passed on transitioning over to Gmail due to privacy concerns. [21] Google officials denied any privacy issues.

“By and large, it’s not typical of what we’re seeing in the market. We’re seeing lots of schools move their students and faculty onto Gmail,” said Jeff Keltner, a business development manager in the Google Apps for Education group. [17]

Individual users with Gmail accounts may be in danger of exposing their personal information too. To protect the privacy of your personal Gmail account, follow these steps to customize your privacy settings:

1. Log into your Gmail account.
2. Click “My Account” on the upper right side of your screen.
3. Under the Profile section, click “Edit profile.” A new screen will open. Here, you can remove any personal information like your name, location, where you grew up, employer information, and more.
4. On this About Me page, uncheck the box next to “Display my full name so I can be found in search.”
5. Next, check your profile photo. Google sets up an unidentifiable default photo, but if you have uploaded your own picture, consider changing it to an avatar or a pet photo to protect your privacy.
6. Scroll down to the Links section and remove any inappropriate links associated with your account. Remember, these links are public.
7. Click on the “Contact info” tab and remove all identifiable information there as well. You may also choose who you wish to view this information by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and creating a personalized group.

Street View

Google Street View began in 1997 and is associated with both the web mapping service Google Maps and the Google Earth program. [12] The technology allows users to see panoramic, photographed views of locations all over the world with just a simple address search. The technology is useful when traveling to an unfamiliar address and would like to know what the location looks like before leaving for it. Since its inception, Google has been the target of several privacy lawsuits due to the company’s blatant disregard for private communities and roads marked “private.” When a Pennsylvania couple filed a lawsuit in 2009 after Street View cameras snapped and published pictures of their home located on a road marked “private,” Google responded to the complaint by saying, “Today’s satellite-image technology means that… complete privacy does not exist.” [20] Still, the privacy complaints and investigations continue [8], particularly in Canada where Google admitted to collecting data using Internet eavesdropping gear [1], and overseas where the European Union has told Google to warn residents before sending their cameras out. [2]

To remove an image from Street View, click on “Report a problem” at the bottom left corner of the image. This will take you to an online form where you can report a privacy concern or objectionable content.

Google Buzz

In an effort to compete with Facebook and Twitter, Google launched Google Buzz, a social networking and messaging tool in 2010 without any privacy controls. The embarrassing debacle was named one of the “5 Biggest Private Data Breaches Remembered on Data Privacy Day” by Business Review Canada, [6] as users were automatically linked to people they often communicated with via Gmail. In fact, users’ private data (including their contact lists) were revealed to other Gmail users. As a result, a class action suit was filed and in late 2010, Google settled for $8.5 million dollars, which will be donated to a fund for privacy education. [15] Google contacted their estimated 170 million Gmail users by email to alert them to the service’s changes following the suit. The lawsuits aren’t over, as another privacy breach lawsuit recently emerged out of Canada. [23]

It’s important to note that all posts on Google Buzz are public by default. Google’s support page also states: “Your Google profile is also searchable on the Web and therefore can appear in Google.com search results.” [10]

To change your privacy settings on Google Buzz, follow these steps:

1. Log into your Gmail account.
2. Click “Settings” on the upper right hand corner of your screen.
3. Click “Buzz” on the yellow menu bar in the center of your screen.
4. Under “Display following lists,” click the circle next to “Do not show these lists on my public Google profile.”
5. Under “Comments and likes on profile,” click the circle next to “Do not show posts I comment on or like on my public Google profile.” [10]

When you post a “buzz” from your mobile phone, your location is automatically attached. To protect your privacy, you may follow either one of the two steps below.

1. On a specific post, choose “Remove Location” next to the address or place name at the bottom of the post, or:
2. Touch > in the location box and choose “Hide location all the time” to protect your location as default. This setting will be in effect for all posts made from the Google Buzz icon on Google.com but won’t be in place when posting by voice (though you can remove your location before posting by voice too). [10]

Google Talk

Google Talk is a free, downloadable web-based application that allows users to communicate with each other via chat or voice.  Google chats are considered to be “on the record” (and saved) unless you click “Go off the record.” If you opt to go off the record, this setting will apply whenever you chat with this person until one of you makes the change. Remember that if you’re chatting with an individual who is connected to the network via a desktop chat client, it’s possible that a copy of your conversation is being saved there as well. [5]

To take a chat off the record on Google Talk or iGoogle:

1. Click the Options link in the bottom of the chat window.
2. Select “Go off the record.”

Or you can change your chat history by following these steps:

1. Sign in to Gmail.
2. Click “Settings” at the top of any Gmail page and open the Chat tab
3. From the Chat tab, select “Don’t save chat history in my Gmail account to disable chat history saving.
4. Click “Save changes.”

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a free web browser that was first released in 2008. [11]. Most users notice personalized advertisements on their screens which are a direct result of Google’s behavioral advertising techniques. You have the chance to opt-out of these personalized ads, but if you’ve ever deleted your browser’s cookies, that opt-out information would vanish and personalized advertisements would reappear. [3]

In an effort to improve online privacy protection, Google recently launched a new tool called “Keep My Opt-Outs” which is a downloadable extension for the Google Chrome browser to help users permanently opt out of ad tracking cookies. [7] To download the “Keep My Opt-Outs” tool for Google Chrome, click here.

Additionally, you may browse the web on Google Chrome in what’s called “incognito mode,” which allows users to privately web surf without any record of sites they visited. Also, all cookies and records of downloads are automatically cleared when the user closes the Google Chrome browser window. To enable incognito mode, click “New Incognito Window” in the page menu on the upper right corner of your browser window, and a new page will open to confirm your new incognito status. [13]

Picasa

Picasa is a free photo editing software tool offered by Google to help users share photographs with family and friends. These photographs are public by default and may appear on search engines. Users must actually edit their photo albums’ settings to keep them private. For a step-by-step in managing your privacy settings on Picasa, watch this video provided by Google. [18]

Using Google Apps on Cell Phones

Even if you’ve changed your privacy settings online, they may not transfer over to your Google Apps when accessed from your mobile phone. With the advent of Google’s Android operating system, it’s more important than ever that users realize what information they may be unwittingly providing to Google. The only sure fire way to protect your privacy on your cell phone is to change the privacy settings on each individual Google app by accessing them via your cell phone. Remember, if you use a GPS-based app like Google Latitude or Google Maps, you could be potentially putting your privacy at risk.

General Privacy Questions

If you have a specific privacy question or complaint about Google’s services, you may contact them through their online privacy contact form or by mail at:

Privacy Matters
c/o Google Inc.
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
USA

12 Easy Steps to Protect Your Privacy on Google

Now that you’ve learned everything there is to know about Google privacy issues, let’s do a quick recap of 12 steps you can take to protect your privacy on Google:

1. Understand your privacy rights, located in Google’s Privacy Center.
2. Change the privacy settings on Picasa photo albums.
3. When using Google Chrome, surf the web in “incognito mode.” [18]
4. Delete items from your web history, or turn it off all together.
5. Opt-out of Google Analytics.
6. Opt-out of Behavioral Advertising and download “Keep My Opt-Outs” for Google Chrome.
7. Customize your Gmail privacy settings.
8. If you find an inappropriate image on Street View, report it to request removal.
9. Change your privacy settings on Google Buzz.
10. When using Google Talk, chat off the record.
11. Change your settings on all Google apps on your mobile phone.
12. If all else fails, contact Google directly.

Helpful Online Resource

Electronic Privacy Information Center
Connect Safely
Federal Trade Commission
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Privacy.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Center for Digital Democracy
Truste

References

1. Acohido, Byron. (2010, October 26). “Google faces probes over privacy issues.” USAToday.com. Retrieved on January 22, 2011.
2. Blake, Heidi. (2010, February 26). “Google’s EU warning over Street View privacy.” Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
3. Carr, Austin. (2011, January 25). “Google Chrome, Firefox add ‘Do Not Track’ Features.” CNN.com. Retrieved on January 31, 2011.
4. Caverly, Doug. (2010, June 17). “Google Docs Privacy Options Revised.” Webpronews.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
5. “Chatting off the record.” Google.com/support. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
6. Connelly, John T. “5 Biggest Private Data Breaches Remembered on Data Privacy Day.” (2011, January 28). BusinessReviewCanada.ca. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.
7. Efrati, Amir. (2011, January 24). “Google Announces New Privacy Tool for Chrome.” WSJ.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
8. “FTC: Investigating Google Street View is a ‘waste of summer.’” (2011, January 20). Epic.org. Retrieved on January 22, 2011.
9. “Google.” Wikipedia.org. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
10. “Google Buzz: Public or private buzz.” Google.com/support. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.
11. “Google Chrome.” Wikipedia.org. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
12. “Google Maps.” Wikipedia.org. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
13. Googleprivacy. (2008, September 2). “Google Privacy: Google Chrome.” YouTube.com. Retrieved on January 31, 2011.
14. Google Privacy Center. Google.com. Retrieved on January 22, 2011 and on January 31, 2011.
15. Kang, Cecilia. “Google settles Buzz privacy suit, tells users by email.” (2010, November 2). WashingtonPost.com. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.
16. Kincaid, Jason. (2009, May 7). “Google Privacy Blunder Shares Your Docs Without Permission.” TechCrunch.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
17. McDougall, Paul. “Exclusive: Gmail Ditched by Major University.” (2010, May 5). InformationWeek.com. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.
18. Mitchell, Robert L. “6 ways to protect your privacy on Google.” (2009, May 11). ComputerWorld.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
19. Mitchell, Robert L. “What Google knows about you.” (2009, May 11). ComputerWorld.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
20. Musil, Steven. (2009, February 18). “Google wins Street View privacy suit.” Cnet.com. Retrieved on January 30, 2011.
21. Parfeni, Lucian. “Google Loses Potential Major Google Apps Customer Due to Privacy Concerns.” (2010, May 6). Softpedia.com. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.
22. “Personalized Search: Turning off search history personalization.” Google.com/support. Retrieved on January 31, 2011.
23. Yu, Daisy. “Canadian May Sting Google Over Buzz.” (2011, January 26). TechNewsWorld.com. Retrieved on January 29, 2011.