Google: What do they know about me?

I started my research on this week’s topic by attempting to see just what it is Google really “knows” about me. Personally, I think giving up a little privacy is completely worth the price I pay to use the many services Google provides, however I’ve never actually taken a careful look at exactly what Google “knows” about me.  The team behind Cloud Fender, an online file storage tool, recently wrote a blog post highlighting several different links you can use to see how Google sees you (2014). In the discussion below, I explore my own online identity through these links and evaluate several privacy and ethical concerns.

What Does Google Think of me?

            The first glimpse into Google’s knowledge of me is in my ad settings. This is an area of my Google profile that shows me basic information about myself based on my recent searches.

Google has identified 45 or so general interests for me based on my web activity and therefore will serve me ads that are most closely aligned with these things. I’ve never manually put in these interests and yet they are surprisingly accurate. Personally, I do not have a problem with Google knowing my general interests. I spend a lot of time online and if I have to see ads, they might as well be relevant to my actual interests. Additionally, it is easy to edit my interests or opt out of interest-based ads if I’m finding them to be a bit TOO accurate. I can even opt out of specific advertising campaigns if I’m seeing them just a bit too often.

While I may be comfortable with Google’s general picture of my interests, the same isn’t necessarily so for everyone. Earlier this year Google settled a lawsuit with students in California after it was discovered that the tech giant was scanning emails through their Google Apps for Education tool to help target ads. “Google Apps for Education, a free service used by more than 30 million students, teachers and administrators, offers Gmail email accounts, as well as calendars, cloud storage and document creation. Google didn’t place ads inside the apps, which it offered to educational institutions since 2006. However, the company continued to scan the contents of students’ Gmail accounts, gathering information that could potentially have been used to target ads to those students elsewhere online” (Barr, 2014). In this case students and educators felt Google was breaking wiretap laws and may have been violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which keeps educational records private. Since the lawsuit Google as removed all advertising from these student Gmail accounts.

 Does Google Know Where I am?

As nonchalant as I am about Google knowing my general interests to help tailor advertising, I’m finding it a bit more disturbing to learn that Google knows exactly where I am and where I’ve been, thanks to its location-based services and my iPhone. While I don’t really care that Google knows where I am and where I’ve been, I am weary that this information could be used for harm. Personally, I haven’t been the target of stalking or crime, but I can see how this location-based information could be used to hurt me should it fall into the wrong hands. Here’s a snapshot of my daily travels according to Google.

This information is readily accessible for me here: https://maps.google.com/locationhistory. As you can see I started my day in Florida and ended up back home in Pennsylvania. If I scroll over the time graph at the bottom I can see exactly where I traveled once I got in the car. Google knows where I am down to just a few feet! Personally I do not like having a daily history of my whereabouts available online simply because if the data got out a criminal could easily see my daily patterns down to the minute. To me this crosses the line just a little bit!

On the flip side, if I was into criminal activity myself (I’m not, I promise!), I would not particularly like this feature. Obviously this sort of information would be damning evidence in foul play. However, in a recent article with Forbes writer Amadou Diallo, a Google representative did confirm that they would require a search warrant from the police before giving out access to this data without consent from the user (2013).

I’ve decided to regularly delete my location history, but I do still plan on keeping my Google location services turned on. It’s helpful to me to know if I’m heading into heavy traffic, or if there’s a Starbucks nearby or if I need a shortcut home. These benefits are worth Google knowing my minute-by-minute move since I know I can control whether or not the data is stored for long periods of time.

What Data Does Google Store?

Another interesting side to my Google life is in my history. This includes all of my Google searches, a complete list of all the Google images I’ve ever looked at, a history of my YouTube video views, and every single Google AdWords ad I’ve ever clicked on. I can also see that my Google account is connected to several apps (Feedly and Amazon) and I also have one credit card on file.

I’m not too worried about all of this information being collected and stored since it’s helping Google create a better advertising experience for me. Furthermore, I’ve given Google permission to collect all this information and I can control quite a bit about what I allow them to collect right there from my dashboard. I would have a much bigger issue with them having access to information like my credit card number if I didn’t actually give them permission to store it.

Google came under fierce scrutiny in 2013 when they were accused of using their Google Maps vehicles (with all the cameras on top) for doing more than just taking street-view photos for Google Maps. “The Street View case arose out of Google’s deployment of special vehicles to photograph the houses and offices lining the world’s avenues and boulevards and lanes. For several years, the company also secretly collected personal information — e-mail, medical and financial records, passwords — as it cruised by. It was data-scooping from millions of unencrypted wireless networks” (Streitfeld, 2013). This is clearly crossing ethical boundaries since this information was not given with permission.

Overall I’m happy with the tools that Google offers me. They make my online experience simple and relevant and I feel like I have the world at my fingertips. While I’m a bit weary of the location tracking services I do ultimately trust Google to keep my data and information safe. I think as long as Google can retain the trust of its users, issues of privacy will be overlooked for the benefits this “god of the internet” can provide!