The almighty Google, overseer of all things on the internet, one of the most powerful digital entities to ever exist in the 21st century. Since Google started 20 years ago, it has built itself up from the ground to become an information sponge of the internet. Almost everything on the net, Google knows and from this stems the issue of personal privacy on the net.

Google is basically everywhere, the data that Google has on you stretches across Gmail, Google Maps, Android, web searches, smart speakers, your video viewing habits, and more. Maybe it might not bother you in the slightest, after all, you have nothing to hide, right? For others, this issue is borderline unethical and troubling.

So how much does Google know about you and how do they do it? Here we have a mission to let you know how Google is so good at building a digital profile of you and how they use it to benefit the company.  

You might or might not be surprised but YOU are the one that has given all this information of yourself to Google. Since they own so many applications and devices that most are available to you free of charge, they have basically just threw the biggest fishing net in the internet sea to fish you up.

Everything you have ever searched online, watched on YouTube, emails you’ve sent or received, Google has an eye on it.  Moreover, it’s not just these Google platforms that they use to gain information. Google trackers are tracking more than 75% of the top million websites on the internet. Anywhere you go on the net, your data may be easily siphoned off.

Now you’re wondering, why does Google need all this info for? Well they use it to profile you and all their customers better so that they can target ads more accurately. It is through this that they make an earning on revenue from advertising. Google Ads still remains as Google’s largest source of income. Many websites contain adverts that fund them by being paid to display adverts from Google. This is a common source of income for many sites.

On a similar note, any android devices you own also allows Google to track not just your personal info but your location as well. They have the ability to track where you have been through Google Location Services. They have the ability to know where you go on a daily basis, how long and how many times you visit a place throughout the day. And most likely you have given them your home address already. 

This is the main reason why you start getting ads of “Hot Pot” restaurants right after you visit one. This is how they target their ads to entice you to consume. 

How do you stop Google from gaining more personal data?

1) DATA & PERSONALIZATION

It starts with managing your own personal Google Account. If you access the Data & personalization tab. You’ll be able to see most of the data that Google has on you. This is where you are able to wipe certain records that have been logged. 

2) WEB & APP ACTIVITY

Next we have the Web & App Activity tab which tracks everything you search for on the web when using your Google Account. This means that the pages you visit, the Google Docs you open, the apps you use on your Android devices are all visible here. 

If you don’t wantGoogle collecting all this information on you, you can switch it off by clicking Web & App Activity is on and turning the switch off.  If you want to delete previous information already have on you, you can access the Delete Activity by tab and clean every piece of information that you have logged in on an app

3) LOCATION HISTORY

Location History is where Google knows about your whereabouts and times. This data is obtained from devices you’re logged into with location tracking enabled.you can stop this by turning the main toggle switch off. Click on Manage activity, you can dive deeper into the places you have visited most often throughout your online history. To delete everything, go back to your timeline tab and click the trash icon to the lower right

4) WATCH HISTORY

YouTube Search History and YouTube Watch History  allows you to see all the videos you’ve watched and searched on YouTube. You can delete individual entries or delete everything via the Delete activity by tab. These are just a few methods in stopping Google from gaining your data. You are definitely still xposed even after accomplishing this but at least you’ll have control over more sensitive information about yourself. 

On a whole different note, if you are eager to learn about how Google place their ads so effectively, you can contact us at Wedialab.com as we are also experts in the field. If you have a product or service you need to brand? We are definitely the ones to look for!