Why are you so paranoid of using google?

I don't see anything wrong with using google. In fact I use it all the time for my searches. Of course, if I am going to look up something really controversial or sketchy I might think twice before using google with my real ip or just a vpn. I might use Tor for searching up something like that. But overall using google is OK even though google does track all of my searches. As long as I don't frequently search up sketchy things like (child porn, "how to make bombs" and etc), then what danger does google pose? I don't really care google builds a profile of all of my searches. As long as none of my searches are sketchy then I think that's ok.

 

Ask yourself why you do this. Probably because, on some level, you realize that what you search, and what you say on the internet, can be intimate, can be something you don't wish to share.

That's why people don't use Google. It creeps them out.

 

I used gmail, so I was logged in all the time to google and its searches were unrelevant, in fact it did not even found, what I wanted, so I had to use google on other browser to search. But when I stopped using google products due its privacy flaws, I moved from Google to Bing, it finds, what I am looking for without deleting cookies, I can be logged in to Bing without problems, so I do not want a crazy Google to put in front searches, that I am not interested in anymore. I wanted to keep using google, but without cookies, it resets search to stupid preferences and uses localized engine, but with them it does not search properly. Simply put, their personalized search sucks big time.

 

I use startpage, which is powered by Google but does not link any search to my gmail account.
Usually I am logged off anyway, but even if I am in, there is no link.

 

I wouldn't say paranoid when speaking about Goggle... (oops, Google) – but IMO they are one of the nosiest and most intrusive 'friendly' organisations on the planet. (I'm sure the amount of information they collect would make the mind goggle)

If you have any kind of tracking addon in your browser, just see how many times Google related sites appear. Of course, it's all for your benefit!
Unfortunately, their search is the best – so I also use Startpage.com – Just hard to get away from using something related to the company.

 

I assume you have a Google Cookie stored. Otherwise, can they keep track of all of your searches?


----
rich

 

Because Google touches me in my inappropriate place. Anything that touches me there is not to be trusted, its like my garuntee.

 

Ip,
Cookies,
Cross Reference,
DNS,
Email,
Keyword searches,
Previous known data patterning,

there are many ways Google can track without a cookie.

 

They don't need cookies to know what you have searched. Having cookies stored is helpful, of course. But, have you ever noted that when you perform a search, you get something like -https://encrypted.google.com/url?q=etc ?

They'll know where you go, even without cookies. There are extensions/userscripts that allow the user to remove that redirection and also referrer (so that the page in question won't know you came from google, etc). And, if one has a static IP, it's quite easy to correlate info.

 

I don't use google.com but I do use Youtube. Therefore I am still a google addict since Youtube is run by google. Unfortunately. I only wish I wasn't so addicted to youtube.

 

I have not reached that level of paranoia so ill keep rocking Google services.

 

I also like YouTube. I don't worry about Google anymore they can track my fake/spoof DNS and IP all they want.

 

I am not

 

because they lied.

they pretended they were trustworthy with their "Do no Evil" motto. Then we found out later that all their "free" products like Gmail, Google Docs and their search engine were really being used to track you around the internet and collect profiling data on you. they also get involved in politics and apparently leverage that to pay lower taxes and/or avoid paying taxes. i also think they skew search results to favor their political bent, which is another reason i stopped using their services.



Deleting their cookies and not using their services is of limited use in preventing their collecting data on you because most websites use Google Analytics and Google Adsense etc.

myself i block all the google IP ranges i'm aware of with PeerBlock, then i use several hosts files along with my own additions including anything with google name in it:

then i use a DNS caching proxy with host file that allows wildcard characters to catch anything i missed with the regular hosts file.



basically its a big~Snip~ to Google.

 

If nobody today is paranoid (and not downright angry) at Google, after the revelations of the past few days, you never will be. Score one for Google.

 

You are correct.

Google literally knows everything about you.
Everything you do is data-mined by google. The only way to safely use the internet is to maximize your privacy settings.

Minimize (or eliminate) your usage of google services.
Never, EVER post any personal information on the internet because it can easily be searched up.
Use a different username on every site (if a username is required at all)
Change your writing style.
Maintain a completely separate identity on every site you site.
Always surf with a proxy.

 

hi,

for searches I use startpage, never google.
for e-mail I'm still using gmail (POP3) until startpage e-meil service is up finaly, after which google will not exist for me anymore .
I use mailwasher + office outlook to access e-mail, very rarely I go to my acc online, and when I do, I flush and close FF afterward.

cheers.

 

For me, I accept Google into my public life. There are many advantages they bring for me, and no other company is near competent enough without similar privacy issues.
Truly private information isn't stored online, except maybe by encrypted government websites. I keep my private life offline, at least the parts I care about.
Therefore, I worry little about my online life, it's nothing more to be paranoid about than walking out in public.

 

It is very difficult to pin searches to a specific person by only tracking the IP. For people that don't have cookies/javascript/flash enabled on google and have referrer information turned off - it is very difficult for google to create a profile of the person doing the searches. They may store all the search data per IP address - but in the vast majority of cases it is incredibly hard to link that IP address to an individual (for targeted ads, etc).

Now it is possible, especially if you use the same IP to connect to your gmail account, which likely contains your personal information, that google will be able to link that account to an IP and that IP to searches – but even so there would be no way of proving that person's account made those searches, if you have cleaned and disabled cookies and turned off flash, scripts, and referrers.

In the vast majority of cases, multiple devices/people are connected to the same IP.

ALL sites store and record data. The ones that claim not to, are lying. They do it for both legal and monetary purposes.

 

I lost faith in google after realizing the PRISM and NASA scandal.