The IT Nerd

As of today, Google has changed its privacy rules. The net result for users is that all the information Google used to collect from users of Gmail, Google+, YouTube, Docs or Maps separately will now be kept in a single location in hopes of offering a more personalized experience. What could possibly go wrong with that? All this info can reveal your age, sex, sexual orientation, health, location, religion and all kinds of other stuff you may not want floating around out there.

So if this scares the crap out of you…. and it should…. here’s some suggestions that I have that can allow you to protect yourself:

• Take a look at privacy settings on Google Dashboard. Then, by using Google’s Ad Preferences, you can opt out of personalized ads based on search results.
• Use Google Takeout. This service allows you to download the information Google has on you, then delete whatever you want manually.
• Don’t log into Google to search for anything.
• Block “cookies” from your search engine through your browser privacy settings.

Any other suggestions? Please post them below and share them with your fellow readers.

This entry was posted on March 1, 2012 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Googel, Privacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.