It's time for us to part ways. I've tried to limit my use of their products and regain some sense of privacy but in the long run I think it's almost impossible.
They track my IP, scan my email, keep track of my searches, try to force me to use Google+, make my youtube comments public - Sheesh. It's really creepy when they give you an ad based on the contents of a personal email.
They're worse than the NSA, it's scary to think what they collect on Android users.
I really like Chrome and Google voice but I guess they're gonna have to go too. I'm switching to Photon mail. The Firefox update is a good alternative for Chrome. I haven't found anything to replace Google voice and I don't know how much using it will keep me in their clutches.
11. "I take it you're not in marketing or business or politics" In response to Reply # 2
The truth is they're compiling a dossier on you. A dossier more personal than your credit report and more wide-reaching than an FBI background check - And it's for sale.
If you have a Google account then you have google plus even if you don't use it. They're becoming more invasive and making it so that everything you do is shared automatically with their other entities.
15. "You can't go icognito from google" In response to Reply # 13
You can only go incognito from yourself. Every site you visit is tracking you, even sites you don't visit are tracking you (Facebook). Chrome is tracking you. If you are using incognito and Ghostery and Do not track me Youtube will still compile what you've viewed and give you suggestions.
17. "NO it doesn't, this has been my point all along." In response to Reply # 16
The autocomplete thing might just be a matter of telling your browser not to make suggestions. Fact of the matter is that the algorithm is still running. big brother is still watching.
Things you search for only in safe mode in Chrome or Firefox won't appear in the autocomplete fields the next time you start to type the same or similar words.
access email via Chrome and browse the Net using Firefox or another browser. Hell Facebook has been using tracking cookies that never expire for a minute, even after you log out of FB they know any and every site you visit.
Glenn Greenwald continues to unveil new secrets about the National Security Agency and the surveillance state. His new book, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State," is being published today. It includes dozens of previously secret NSA documents, including new details on how the NSA routinely intercepts routers, servers and other computer hardware devices being exported from the United States. According to leaked documents published in the book, the NSA then implants backdoor surveillance tools, repackages the devices with a factory seal and sends them on. This gives the NSA access to entire networks and all their users. The book includes one previously secret NSA file that shows a photo of an agent opening a box marked CISCO. Below it reads a caption: "Intercepted packages are opened carefully." Another memo observes that some signals intelligence tradecraft is "very hands-on (literally!)."
This was basically the only thing really keeping me in the google camp. I've had my google phone number since 2009. If you're not familiar it allows you to connect the number to any landline or mobile, keep text messages and voicemail all in one place, make calls over wifi and avoid using up cell phone limits.
But now it is being phased out and incorporated into google hangouts :'(
Third party apps were notified to stop supporting google voice on 5/15 - no wonder my phone hasn't been ringing.
39. "FB is far more worrisome. i only ever log into that from an off" In response to Reply # 0
brand browser in incognito mode and then log the eff out when i'm done.
you can 'manage' your view history in youtube and all that. go in there from time to time and clean up ish. i never comment on yt so that's not an issue for me.
gmail's reading my mail shit is creepy. but, i reckon, no more creepy than yahoo and they creepiness is helpful (re: itineraries and all that).
if you look at all the big monoliths in consumer tech:
microsoft??? i remember how they came up. bill gates is all nice now. they was on some slash and burn shit for the longest, though.
apple? i donnnnnt trust them fuckers. too authoritarian but on some, trust us, we are enlightened and know what's better for you shit. fuck them.
i'll use google with both eyes open, and making use of all safety features, etc. lots of NON google shit that i've said or done that will ever prevent me from running for congress or whatever (even if i wanted to do some ignant shit like that), so the massive amounts of data that google got on me don't scare me that much.
========================================= I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and not having much to show for it. (c) mad
40. "Let the record reflect that Google gives us lots of free stuff." In response to Reply # 0
Anyone shitting on Google's amount of information needs to fall back and realize they can't have it both ways. You can't receive good products/services for free without giving anything to a corporation.
If google comes out with a free symbiote as long as you give up your search history then I'm copping.
43. "^^WRONG SUBJECT LINE" In response to Reply # 40
>Anyone shitting on Google's amount of information needs to >fall back and realize they can't have it both ways. You can't >receive good products/services for free without giving >anything to a corporation. > >If google comes out with a free symbiote as long as you give >up your search history then I'm copping.
It's not free, you're just paying with your data and privacy instead of money.
Why? Because advertisers will pay more for your data than you're willing to give to Google in money.
Google's just HIDING that fact as best as they can WITHOUT lying to people.
The other fact: Any other "big guy" doing it also hides - just some do it much less than Google (BING) and some do it much more (Facebook.)
Printer-friendly copy 
Email this topic to a friend
General Discussion
