I created a google takeout and in that zip file I found some files containing a ton of data about me. It has logged every single page I visited while using the google search engine and chrome browser. It even logged every single time I opened an app on my old android phone. It even has VOICE RECORDINGS of me and a log of every time I used google assistant. This is just some of the data and I’m very sure there is even more data they have.

  • om1k@sopuli.xyz
    1·
    7 months ago

    don’t forget if you have location enabled in your phone it tracks every single place you’ve been to

    • Possibly linux@lemmy.zipEnglish
      0·
      7 months ago

      It does that even if you turn it off. The setting just controls location access by third party apps.

      Lineage os and F-droid is the better solution. It has the advantage of being bloat free as well

      • Churbleyimyam@lemm.ee
        0·
        7 months ago

        You can also use GPS location without any google services running, it just takes a bit longer to find your position when you first connect. OsmAnd or Organic maps from f-droid, which are actually superior apps to google maps in a lot of ways, particularly OsmAnd.

        • Scary le Poo@beehaw.org
          0·
          7 months ago

          These apps cannot find addresses in the US. Just a heads up so anyone that sees this doesn’t pull their hair out trying to figure it out. No, it isn’t you, it’s the app.

          • KISSmyOS@feddit.de
            0·
            7 months ago

            It’s not the app, it’s the lack of volunteers mapping addresses in the US.
            Don’t pull your hair out, install StreetComplete and take a walk around your neighborhood.

            And if you find that fun, editing Openstreetmap in the browser isn’t all that hard, either.
            If you add addresses you are missing, you can increase the apps utility for yourself directly. Pretty fun seeing the stuff you entered appear in the map. And it doesn’t require any coding skills.

            Something you can’t do with missing info in Google Maps.

  • rageagainstmachines@lemmy.world
    1·
    7 months ago

    What’s even scarier is that takeout is probably only the data they want you to see, or are legally obliged to share.

    I would be willing to wager they have lots more on you that you’re not even aware of.

  • 1984@lemmy.today
    1·
    7 months ago

    They may even save every Google meet meeting for all we know. They may train their AI on how our faces look in meetings.

    Nothing is too creepy for Google.

  • GolfNovemberUniform@lemmy.ml
    1·
    7 months ago

    Fortunately you can degoogle many Android phones. And stop using big tech products in general. They have a lot of issues, not only a complete lack of privacy

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
    0·
    7 months ago

    I gave up caring years ago when I realized it was way too late to undo it all. If Google really cares that I’m a gamer then oh well, at least my ad blockers work just fine and I use Firefox so that’s good enough.

      • Coreidan@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        7 months ago

        Free yourself from what exactly? I think you’d be surprised at how much everything else is tracking you still.

        All for what, avoiding ads you’ll get anyway?

        • glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de
          0·
          7 months ago

          Legitimate question. Targeted ads feel obvious to many, but it is more about control.

          • Google knows more about you than your partner or you yourself know about you. And they know how to use that knowledge. The scariest part: this control over you is for sale.
          • Google controls how you use things. By being the defacto standard in so many things, they have the power to control how things look, feel and are beeing used. We are missing a lot of innovation because of that.
          • Google can basically decide, which business survives and which doesn’t. It’s not the one with the better product, it is the one which pays more money to Google. By that it helps to promote big companies, small businesses have a hard time to establish themselves. Even in my small citiy: if the new barber doesn’t pay for Google placement and begs for useless 5-star-ratings, he won’t survive.
          • It is hard to get out! You are getting lulled in with convenience and you unlearn how to use the internet outside of Google. Google takes prisoners and puts them in a plushy cell.

          I think you’d be surprised at how much everything else is tracking you still.

          You are absolutely right, I am surprised again and again. But I do my best to avoid it, if I find something that tracks me. And I am surprised that so many people let themselves being exploited, and even defend this exploitation.

          Free yourself! It is work. But it is worth it. And it is not too late.

  • ooli@lemmy.world
    0·
    7 months ago

    The worst part, is even when you try to avoid, you cant.

    You send an email from proton, to mostly gmail account, now they have your email.

    You mean your business, the guy next to you talk to google home, and you get recorded.

    Every time I 'm forced to use a google account by some 3rd party, I get a panic attack from how predatory it is to get you to give them your data, you cant log out without 4 clic, it is a true dystopia we let that compagny rule our world

    • risencode@lemmy.ml
      0·
      7 months ago

      now they have your email.

      That’s why you use hide-my-email aliases when you sign up to sites, so they can’t tie “your” email to you anymore.

      Every time I 'm forced to use a google account

      Create a few junk accounts, send recovery to a hide-my-email alias

      If you use password managers it really is no bother to have multiple accounts, and Proton Pass integrates hide-my-email, it’s pretty neat.

      • glasgitarrewelt@feddit.de
        0·
        7 months ago

        Thanks for the hint with hide-my-email! I will ask my mail provider, if they offer something like this as a service.