Google tracks your every move, but does also show you what they know about you

Google tracks your every move, but does also show you what they know about you

Alan Crowetz of InfoStream Inc interviewed for WPTV news on what Google knows about you.

Any key typed in a search engine is tracked, but it is now a lot easier to see what Google knows about you. It’s quite a scary eye opener.

It’s easy to see what is known about you in Google History. You have the choice to download you history or you can delete it. The ready availability of all this information even surprised WPTV security expert Alan Crowetz.

The History goes back years. Your 2008 vacation destination is there. You can see the cars you looked at when you were last shopping for a car. Even things you had forgotten about. There is literally tons of search history and it probably hasn’t even crossed your mind that Google had such information, said Alan Crowetz.

There is record of the day of the week on which you do most of your searching. The sites you search the most. All kinds of data that builds a picture of who you are on the web. Also remember that if you have an Android phone, it is very likely linked to Google account so all that data is being stored too.

It’s probably a little worrying but is far from unique. Date is a valuable commodity today and many companies track internet users but it’s not always obvious.

However, it should also be understood they are cooperating with you. They are trying to help you. Other companies are desperate for your data and not doing what Google is, so caution is advisable. Be careful with your date. Alan explained that surfers should be very careful which sites they visit.
Google History allows you to delete some of your searches and also enables you to download the entire search history.

It should also be noted that if you're an Android user, it's getting easier to track your phone if you lose it.

Below are some useful links to check out your search history:

Google search history: https://history.google.com/history/

For a map of all you locations: https://www.google.com/locationhistory/

See how Google targets you with ads: https://www.google.com/ads/preferences/

Google dashboard--alerts, contact, documents, emails: https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard