Google what do you know

It also keeps your name, email address, birthday, gender, phone number and country. It collects data on what videos you watch, the ads you click, your location, device information, and IP address and cookie data.

It says it does this to "make [its] services work better for you, which is true: If you block everything you also block Google's ability to show you more content it thinks you'll like. Google even lets users download all of their data, including photos, emails, contacts, bookmarks and more, so you can "copy, back it up or even move it to another service. Google promises that it keeps all of this data safe during transit between your computer or smartphone and its servers. It also says that its cloud infrastructure protects that data, and that it doesn't give governments "direct access" or "backdoor access" to any information.

Google provides a public transparency report on all requests and other issues that might affect users. Finally, Google promises that it doesn't sell your data, but rather uses your information to "make ads relevant" while you're browsing the web. It says it doesn't hand over any of this information to advertisers. Skip Navigation. Key Points. Google collects a lot of your personal data in order to target ads and improve your experience.

In some ways, by keeping such close tabs on everything you do, they, at least in some ways, may know you better than you know yourself. And Google uses your personal profile to sell ads, not only on their search engine, but also on over three million other websites and apps. Every time you visit one of these sites or apps, Google is following you around with hyper-targeted ads.

By allowing Google to collect all this info, you are allowing hundreds of thousands of advertisers to bid on serving you ads based on your sensitive personal data.

Everyone involved is profiting from your information, except you. You are the product. It is entirely possible for a web-based business to be profitable without making you the product — since , we've been profitable without storing or sharing any personal information on people at all.

You can read more about the DuckDuckGo business model here. Everyone has information they want to keep private: Do you close the door when you go to the bathroom? Privacy is about control over your personal information. In addition, privacy is essential to democratic institutions like voting and everyday situations such as getting medical care and performing financial transactions.

Without it, there can be significant harms. If you aren't able to find this page from your settings, you should be able to reach it at this link. In my case, Google was pretty far off — I'm 23, a far cry from the toyear-old window.

To be fair, I checked my ad profile using my work email account, which I pretty much only use at the office. Google correctly guessed that I have a bachelor's degree, despite the fact that I've never explicitly input that information into any Google account or website.

The predictions Google makes can be comically fine-tuned. Google also states that it will keep using "general" information like your location and the time of day to target ads to you when you turn off personalization. For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation. Good Subscriber Account active since Shortcuts. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

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