Your Privacy with Google. Is it Safe?

It would not be an understatement to say that Google has become an invaluable part of our everyday lives. With over 3.5 billion Google searches per day, we send a lot of data to this search engine. However, Google is more than just a search engine. It is a huge ecosystem of web services designed to provide tremendous value to our online/offline world.

Have you ever wondered how Google tracks you? What kind of data does it collect?

Google was just a search engine, and Gmail, Android, and YouTube were just a glimmer in the startup's eye. Google's first privacy policy reflected that simplicity. It was short and serious, a curious artifact from another time Silicon Valley, when Google explained in 600 words how it collected and used personal data.

That version of Google no longer exists. Over the past 20 years, those same privacy policies have been rewritten into a sprawling, numerous-word explanation of the company's data practices.

A U.S. judge has slapped Google with a class-action lawsuit that could net the search engine giant a $5 billion fine. According to the lawsuit, Google has been tracking and collecting data even when people use the private "incognito" mode in its Chrome browser.

If the data was tracked in incognito mode, then it is obvious that the data is tracked in various Google apps.

In the last 20 years, Google has evolved its services. Google has launched many apps that are used every day. These are some of the apps that are most installed and your privacy in:

Google Chrome: Your entire web browsing history, username, permissions your locations.

Gmail: Your email messages, your contacts (names, email addresses, phone numbers).

Google Photos: people and places tagged in your photos.

Google Fit: your height, weight, diet, and fitness level.

Google Maps: places you've visited, dates of individual trips, places you want to travel to.

Google Calendar: your full schedule of events.

Google News: Topics you're interested in, stories you read.

Google Shopping: Products you are interested in.

Google Pay: Your financial information, including your credit card number.

 

If privacy does matter to you then you should follow my advice and switch some platforms. Click here to know the platforms.