# How to find out what Google knows about you.



## wallmaxx (Jun 18, 2007)

http://www.wonderoftech.com/google-history/


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## Anderson (Sep 7, 2009)

scary that thing knew were I was all day yesterday


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

I'm so glad you posted that. I forgot all about this video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMqhYzQlCQ8


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

Seems I have most of my stuff turned off. It has my youtube history.


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

All mine is disabled. No history to show. I was all excited to see it!


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

Holy crap when I signed in on Google with my tablet to do that it automatically started loading pics from it!!!


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## m1911 (Feb 24, 2009)

I hate how my android phone automatically synced my phone number and contacts, etc to my google account! 

I think once you go online, you no longer have any privacy!

You can't remove all those BS google apps, like Drive, etc, from your android phone either!


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

Yes! Automatic syncing is the stupidest thing ever.


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## m1911 (Feb 24, 2009)

illbuildit.dd said:


> Yes! Automatic syncing is the stupidest thing ever.


what's worse is that you probably agreed to it somewhere in the BS terms that you agreed to


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

m1911 said:


> I hate how my android phone automatically synced my phone number and contacts, etc to my google account!
> 
> I think once you go online, you no longer have any privacy!
> 
> You can't remove all those BS google apps, like Drive, etc, from your android phone either!


There are options. You have to hunt for them. I had to find out how to disable automatic updating on my apps. I hate that. I want to know exactly what happens to my stuff. If they just self update and something goes wrong you are clueless.

In your phone go to your accounts. Find the google account and click on it. There you can turn things on and off about what you want synced. If you don't want your contacts to sync then uncheck the box. Or do what I do. Keep the sync function off. If you want to sync something then you turn it on, wait for it to complete and turn it off.

Keep your GPS, Sync, WiFi and Data off until you need it. It saves battery power and keeps them guessing about a lot of things. If you have a smart phone and are unwilling to turn these on and off they will know everything about you. You have to be vigilant in keeping your info to yourself.

I used the GPS yesterday and Google didn't seem to have a record of it. Somehow I don't believe it. But that's what it said.


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## illbuildit.dd (Jan 7, 2015)

Leo G said:


> There are options. You have to hunt for them. I had to find out how to disable automatic updating on my apps. I hate that. I want to know exactly what happens to my stuff. If they just self update and something goes wrong you are clueless.
> 
> In your phone go to your accounts. Find the google account and click on it. There you can turn things on and off about what you want synced. If you don't want your contacts to sync then uncheck the box. Or do what I do. Keep the sync function off. If you want to sync something then you turn it on, wait for it to complete and turn it off.
> 
> ...


If you murdered someone, I'm sure Google could tell the cops where you were.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

No, the phone company could. They could triangulate your cell signal. If they weren't tracking you at the point where you did the dirty deed and all your stuff in the phone was turned off, like I keep it. I don't think Google would know.

But the NSA has been tracking the populace at large for decades now by any means necessary. So it's pretty hard to get away with sneezing without someone knowing about it.


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

Leo G said:


> Seems I have most of my stuff turned off. It has my youtube history.


Same here. I think that is only recorded when you log in to google's yootoobe, but I'm sure they have all the links from your ISP number. If you have a wireless router, other computers can use that number if they can access your router.

Running noscript with my browser and yootoob just added a script it needs to run on your computer to see vids, IIRC something like googletv.
I think the one of the best things people can do is use that noscript add on. It rarely changes what I can see and when it does, it's usually a video of some sort and I can choose to see it or not--let it run its program on my computer.

I use "Startpage" for my home page/search engine for privacy.
No reason for them to have your phone number, though they keep asking me for it.
Disabling clouds are also wise as it's nothing more than using someone elses computer to put your data on, though "cloud" sounds just fabulously smart.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

I didn't like that auto-sync on the android either. When I got the android and signed in with my Google account, I started getting all kinds of baggage in my contact list. Old girlfriends, former acquaintances, GC's that burned me, people who made threats against me, etc. It seems like everyone that I ever had email correspondence with on my Gmail account was now inside of the phone.  

I make it a point to always sign out, clear my browser cache, and then restart the browser any time I am in Youtube uploading something. I also had to learn how to do the same thing on the Android phone. Recently I was HORRIFIED to discover that they kept track of every video that I watched on my phone. When I'm out on the jobsite talking with other contractors I'm likely to pull up ANYTHING that pertains to the conversation that we might be having at that time. 

Without going into detail, we happened to be talking about a particular construction process that shares the name with a lewd sexual act. So of course when I pulled it up on my phone, half of the videos were about construction and the other half were less than family friendly and it took some trial and error to find what I was looking for. A couple of weeks later I started to see strange things in the "Recommended for You" column in Youtube. Going through the menus I happened to stumble upon my history. OMG!!! OMG!!!! CAN OTHER PEOPLE SEE THIS ABOUT ME??? :laughing:


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

CO762 said:


> Same here. I think that is only recorded when you log in to google's yootoobe, but I'm sure they have all the links from your ISP number. If you have a wireless router, other computers can use that number if they can access your router.
> 
> Running noscript with my browser and yootoob just added a script it needs to run on your computer to see vids, IIRC something like googletv.
> I think the one of the best things people can do is use that noscript add on. It rarely changes what I can see and when it does, it's usually a video of some sort and I can choose to see it or not--let it run its program on my computer.
> ...


You just go into NoScript and enable that one script. It'll work again and all the other ones stay locked off. I have that problem with a news site. They seem to change the way the site works monthly and I'll have to retweak my settings on AdBlock and NoScript so I can see some things. Occasionally I have to go to Chrome which is naked for protections just so I can see a site. Sometimes I can't figure out how to unblock certain things even though I give it a good try. Other times I just say oh well, if you want to put so much crap on your site as to make it hard to protect myself I guess I don't need to see it.


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

Get different email accounts. I have a bunch and will use different ones for different things. Using one email provider for all of your accounts can lead to, well, what's happening to you. 

Hotmail used to be a great service....then microsoft t00k it over.
I know g00gle is just another version of microsoft, so want minimum involvement with them. My phone I have a gmail/g00gle account, but never use it.
There is no reason for most businesses to have your phone number that you don't deal with a lot and have a personal/professional relationship with. There's no reason for your bank to have your real phone number. They are the biggest sellers of your personal data. Also, no reason for your real phone number to be on your credit report (see bank).

Sort of like the stores asking for your phone number--no reason for them to have it. 

Inbox.com is a pretty good free email provider. With that one though you cannot block anyone, but the more you segregate your email accounts, the less you have to use filtering/blocking.


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## CO762 (Feb 22, 2010)

Leo G said:


> if you want to put so much crap on your site as to make it hard to protect myself I guess I don't need to see it.


That's it. No matter what it is, "Businesses need you more than you need them."

I only give 'temp' allowances. Do you run ghostery too? That's a pretty good program and am amazed at how many things are on websites. I think beck's blaze had the record, but not been back there in a long while.


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## sunkist (Apr 27, 2012)

Wow this just got me thinking, One night this week i bought a couple of buds in a can swiped my debit card, Then the clerk asked for my date of birth, I asked him why he needed that and he replied he is supposed to do it on all adult beverage sales, He entererd the info in to the register, ??? this has never happend before, I have been buying adult beverages for over 40 years and i no longer look under age, so why does 7/11 corp need my dob??


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

CO762 said:


> That's it. No matter what it is, "Businesses need you more than you need them."
> 
> I only give 'temp' allowances. Do you run ghostery too? That's a pretty good program and am amazed at how many things are on websites. I think beck's blaze had the record, but not been back there in a long while.


Ya, I have Ghostery too. I run NoScript, AdBlock Plus, Ghostery, Zone Alarm, Spy-Bot Search and Destroy and Symantec AV.

Got most of it covered.


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## Leo G (May 12, 2005)

sunkist said:


> Wow this just got me thinking, One night this week i bought a couple of buds in a can swiped my debit card, Then the clerk asked for my date of birth, I asked him why he needed that and he replied he is supposed to do it on all adult beverage sales, He entererd the info in to the register, ??? this has never happend before, I have been buying adult beverages for over 40 years and i no longer look under age, so why does 7/11 corp need my dob??


Maybe they want to send you a Birthday card :whistling


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