Information Privacy

[Hellbent]

My roommate is bugging out about Google's "tracking" of his activity in order to give him more relevant search results. For example, he ate at a restaurant called Yee Dynasty in New Hampshire. Some days or weeks later he started typing into google Yee... and the autofill offered Yee Dynasty for his search query. He was in Boston at the time googling from his laptop, about 50 miles from the restaurant. He claims Google somehow got wind of his using his credit card at the restaurant and thus knew he recently ate there and therefore gave the autofill for the restaurant on his search.

1. Is this true? Can/Does google do this kind of shit?

2. If so, are you against or uncomfortable with this kind of tracking in order to give you more relevant search results?

[Technician]

This is actually freaking my shit as well. I'm not searching for anything immoral, but to track everything I do is a little un-calming.

I first noticed that Youtube would always coincidently have suggested videos on topics I've searched for on Google, even back to a point where I vaguely remember searching for anything relevant to the video recommendation.

I'm at a point where most of my searches come back purple highlighted. Can I clear Google's cache?

[40oz]

I haven't noticed anything.

[GreyGhost]

Hellbent said:

Some days or weeks later he started typing into google Yee... and the autofill offered Yee Dynasty for his search query. He was in Boston at the time googling from his laptop, about 50 miles from the restaurant.

A similar thing happens to me and I'm in Australia! Typing yee dy brought up yee dynasty manchester nh at the top of the autofill options.

He claims Google somehow got wind of his using his credit card at the restaurant and thus knew he recently ate there and therefore gave the autofill for the restaurant on his search.

Highly unlikely, unless one of Google's goons was on the premises with a card swiper and masquerading as a waiter.

2. If so, are you against or uncomfortable with this kind of tracking in order to give you more relevant search results?

Doesn't bother me much. Not letting Google set persistent cookies in my browsers eliminates a major source of info, though they'll still track you to some extent using geolocation - which can usually be defeated by using anonymous proxies.

[Grazza]

If you hate Google's tendency to invade your privacy (and the smug "It's OK because we're nice people and wouldn't do anything bad with it" attitude of Google's spokespeople) and don't like the alternative Internet search engines, use Scroogle ... that is, once they have solved the current technical problem Google has thrown at them. :(

[AndrewB]

I honestly don't give a crap and the reason is that all of this is done by computers and it's extremely unlikely that any human will ever come close to looking at my particular information let alone caring about me if he/she does look at it.

Really, when this stuff happens to me, my reaction is more "oh, cool" than anything.

[Nomad]

AndrewB said:

I honestly don't give a crap and the reason is that all of this is done by computers and it's extremely unlikely that any human will ever come close to looking at my particular information let alone caring about me if he/she does look at it.

Really, when this stuff happens to me, my reaction is more "oh, cool" than anything.

That, mostly.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Does he use an Android phone?

[Sigvatr]

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

[Mr. T]

Sigvatr said:

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

ROLLEYES.GIF

That's great until they make a law saying that your internet will be disconnected if you are even suspected of doing something illegal, oh wait, that's called ACTA

[GreyGhost]

Sigvatr said:

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

What's the worst that could happen? A data-matching error red flags you as an Al-Qaeda supporter? I can live with that.

[myk]

What privacy? From what I know, my ISP has access to even more data, including my name, my address, and billing information. Google on the other hand has some random computer-controlled info related to the IPs I've been using.

Being concerned about this is more extreme than being concerned about taking a stroll around town because someone may see you. Don't go out, don't visit the park on a sunny day, make all your purchases from home (haha, probably though a digital service that takes data about you) or they might identify you!

[Maes]

I think this is just autofill's magic, coupled with some common-sense statistics and locality information. Come to think of it, how many businesses do you know that start with "Yee" ?

And which one is more probable to encounter in the Anglosaxon world?

That's right, Yee Dynasty.

In comparison, when Starting to type "Yee" from my own locale (Google autodetects Greece, but hey, even some GeoCities' or MySpace lamer's webpage using a webstat applet can do that!) I get autofilled to "ΓΕΕΘΑ" (Geetha) because "Υ" looks similar in script to our own letter "Γ", in small form (γ = small gamma). That's the Greek General National Defense Staff, nothing to do with some random-ass Yankee eating establishment :-p

Sigvatr said:

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

Let alone that if your government has some kind of a grudge or suspicion against you, there are always more traditional and more capillary means of checking on you or "sending you a message": having your neighbor/greengrocer/butcher/landlord rat you out, having the paperboy checking on you, having a bunch of local bad mothafuckas "soften you up" for apparently no reason etc.

The internet merely allows "broadening the search", but in order to produce any sort of official evidence traditional means of surveillance, apprehension and, ultimately, prosecution must be set in motion.

[Jimmy]

I don't know if this is connected, but when I watch a video on YouTube, no matter where I am, it seems to get posted publicly to the Suggestions column on one of my videos - and the suggestions seem to change every couple of weeks or so to update according to what I've recently viewed.

I watched various clips of BNP leader Nick Griffin's controversial appearance on Question Time, and also Barack Obama's inaugural address, on YouTube, as part of a school project - and I watched it at school. Then, days later, I saw some of those clips appear in the Suggestions column for one of my latest videos.

Even weirder, the same happens whenever my brother or dad watch a video on YouTube - they quite often get posted straight to the Suggestions column for all to see.

It's unsettling.

[Maes]

Sigvatr said:

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

But members of the Inner Party can always turn off their telescreens if they wish to ;-)

[CODOR]

I live in Ontario, Canada -- about 1000km from New Hampshire, give or take. I typed "yee" into Google and the first suggestion is "yee haw". Then I add the space and the 'd', and the first result becomes "yee dynasty manchester nh"...

Clearly Google has correlated the fact that I post to Doomworld with a username that is a subset of my Gmail address with this very thread!

[Marnetmar]

/thread

[Abyssalstudios1]

As was already pointed out, my ISP probably has a lot more info than I do. Personally, I don't mind if Google knows most of what I do. If I want to search for the name of that two dollar cinema up in Fort Collins, does anyone give a damn if Google knows I'm interested in that? I'm not going to use Scroogle to look up facts on Mayan art.

Sure, if I'm doing something that is legally questionable (or soon could be), I'll use proxies, Scroogle, etc. But for the most part, I don't care if Google can serve me better.

[Xeros612]

Sigvatr said:

I don't know what there is to be afraid of. Unless you are doing something illegal.

That's what they'll be saying when they install cameras everywhere to monitor everyone, even in your TV- oh wait, someone already made a 1984 reference. Damn.

[Grazza]

Two of the most obvious dangers arising from having your personal information harvested are identity theft and phishing (which obviously has a better chance of working if it is "personalized").

[Abyssalstudios1]

I keep waiting for Orwell's estate to sue the British government for lack of royalty payments.

[dontbotherwithmyname]

http://www.johnandjohn.nl/write/jaj734.gif

[Csonicgo]

I hear constantly from the worst of the worst of all the things google "collects" but when I ask why it is an issue, they mention worst-case scenarios and things not even related to google, like google being forced to hand over search records to the fed or some shit. That's nothing to hate Google for!

The reality that people are frightened that their searches and clicks are logged in order to make a BETTER SERVICE for everyone that uses google (what else would they use, coin flips?????)is hilarious. I actually expect Google to use my clicks from searches to better their results for everyong because, hey, that's fucking common sense. If they didn't, it'd be just as retarded as Yahoo! was in the 90s, when we had to cross our fingers and use stupid BOOLEAN VARIABLES to get anything on the results worth a damn. Do you not remember how stupid that was?

[Maes]

Hmm...maybe the time is right to pimp a new, privacy-sensitive information giant and search engine?

"Yobbler, the search engine for the low-profile bloke".

[GreyGhost]

Abyssalstudios1 said:

If I want to search for the name of that two dollar cinema up in Fort Collins, does anyone give a damn if Google knows I'm interested in that?

Lots of people give a damn. Apart from Echelon there are private enterprise data-miners who profile your online activities and patterns, selling that information to direct marketers (amongst others) or using it in their own targeted advertising. Then there's the small matter of identity theft - where knowing some innocuous little details of your daily life can lend credibility to the thief.

[CODOR]

Obligatory xkcd...

[Aliotroph?]

If you are logged into Google when you search then it certainly can correlate your searches to other services you use. I don't know if it does, but it can. It can do that anyway as long as you're using the same browser session if it wants.

I've never heard of Yee Dynasty, but it must be a popular search because searching "yee dy" gives five search variations for it.

I recall Google having settings to control what information it logs if you are logged in. Haven't messed with that in ages. I don't care much.

[Mr. T]

Csonicgo said:

I hear constantly from the worst of the worst of all the things google "collects" but when I ask why it is an issue, they mention worst-case scenarios and things not even related to google, like google being forced to hand over search records to the fed or some shit. That's nothing to hate Google for!

The reality that people are frightened that their searches and clicks are logged in order to make a BETTER SERVICE for everyone that uses google (what else would they use, coin flips?????)is hilarious. I actually expect Google to use my clicks from searches to better their results for everyong because, hey, that's fucking common sense. If they didn't, it'd be just as retarded as Yahoo! was in the 90s, when we had to cross our fingers and use stupid BOOLEAN VARIABLES to get anything on the results worth a damn. Do you not remember how stupid that was?

YES I DO REMEMBER! THANK YOU GOOGLE

[GooberMan]

Also, Google has a fairly decent idea of what physical location IPs are assigned to, and if you've logged in to a Google account and have set your default location up it will use both pieces of information to bias search results.

Go in to Google maps and hit the dot in between the zoom and movement controls in the top-left corner of the map display. It's fairly accurate from my own usage of it.

[Abyssalstudios1]

GreyGhost said:

Lots of people give a damn. Apart from Echelon there are private enterprise data-miners who profile your online activities and patterns, selling that information to direct marketers (amongst others) or using it in their own targeted advertising. Then there's the small matter of identity theft - where knowing some innocuous little details of your daily life can lend credibility to the thief.

Fortunately, I doubt that Google (or whoever could manage to h@k them) want to steal the identity of a dirt-poor college kid.

And I've been giving the outrage against data miners some thought. Worst case scenario, I ignore them. Best case scenario, I get a better product.