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Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out
Washington Post ^ | 1/24/2012 | Cecilia Kang

Posted on 01/24/2012 3:05:35 PM PST by Freedom56v2

Google said Tuesday it will require users to allow the company to follow their activities across e-mail, search, YouTube and other services, a radical shift in strategy that is expected to invite greater scrutiny of its privacy and competitive practices.

The information will enable Google to develop a fuller picture of how people use its growing empire of Web sites. Consumers will have no choice but to accept the changes.

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The policy will take effect March 1 and will also impact Android mobile phone users, who are required to log in to Google accounts when they activate their phones.

FAQ: What kind of data can Google collect and integrate? How will this affect me?

The changes comes as Google is facing stiff competition and recently disappointed investors for the first time in several quarters, failing last week to meet earnings expectations. Apple, perhaps its primary rival, is expected to announce strong earnings Tuesday.

Google’s changes are appeared squarely aimed at Apple and Facebook, which have been successful in keeping people in their ecosystem of products. Google, which makes money by selling ads tailored to its users, is hoping to do the same by offering a Web experience tailored to personal tastes.

“If you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services,” Alma Whitten, Google’s director of privacy, product and engineering wrote in a blog post.

“In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience,” she said.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Society
KEYWORDS: dontbeevil; google; internet; privacy; tracking
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To: 1_Rain_Drop
How or what exactly does google track through gmail? Do they track the content of emails sent and received? Do they read my private emails?

If you look at the gmail URL, it's "mail.google.com". So the cookies that gmail sets are visible to google.com. It also knows the IP address you logged in from. This allows it to connect what you search for on google with your gmail user ID.

No human person (in theory) reads your emails, but software parses your emails for words and phrases that can be used to tailor ads to you.

61 posted on 01/24/2012 5:15:02 PM PST by PapaBear3625 (During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

All this is very confusing to me. So if I use Firefox to access Free Republic and then open Explorer in a totally separate window outside of Firefox, Firefox would know I used Explorer to access the web site GardeningWeb in Explorer and Explorer would know I have Free Republic running on Fire fox?


62 posted on 01/24/2012 5:21:49 PM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: Red_Devil 232

Good question!


63 posted on 01/24/2012 5:39:59 PM PST by Freedom56v2 ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it is free"--PJ O'rourke)
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To: PapaBear3625

Wouldn’t a dynamic IP address ameliorate some of their tracking—after deleting cookies of course...


64 posted on 01/24/2012 5:42:08 PM PST by Freedom56v2 ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it is free"--PJ O'rourke)
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To: HiTech RedNeck
One way to get around it might be for example to use Firefox for your Google searches, while using Chrome to be in Gmail.

Firefox stores all it knows about you in your profile. Your profile is the directory under which Firefox stores all it knows about you — your preferences, your saved passwords, your cookies, your browsing history, cache, your set of installed add-ons, etc. Delete your profile, and Firefox will be forced to start its relationship with you over from scratch.

Each user on a given computer has one Firefox profile, and that's usually that. However, it's possible to set up multiple profiles for one user. Normally, that's only useful if you're doing development, e.g., debugging an add-on or something. However, since the profiles are completely separate, having multiple ones could also be useful to prevent information leakage, such as we are discussing. It has the same effect as using different browsers without requiring you to use a different browser.

You can learn how to set up multiple profiles here.

65 posted on 01/24/2012 6:07:23 PM PST by cynwoody
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To: Vendome

Here it is.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/computer-security/how-to-disappear-completely-from-the-internet?click=pp


66 posted on 01/24/2012 7:00:00 PM PST by w4women (A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers.)
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To: HiTech RedNeck

But doesn’t Google own YouTube?


67 posted on 01/24/2012 7:14:03 PM PST by Bigg Red (Pray for our republic.)
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To: w4women

Hadn’t seen that one.

The one I read was here:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2376023,00.asp

Can’t post the article under FR rules.


68 posted on 01/24/2012 7:16:39 PM PST by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: bushwon

Always looking for more ways to inundate you with advertising.


69 posted on 01/24/2012 8:03:25 PM PST by TPOOH (I wish I could have been Jerry Reed.)
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To: cynwoody

Interesting! Thanks.


70 posted on 01/24/2012 8:28:23 PM PST by Freedom56v2 ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it is free"--PJ O'rourke)
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To: w4women

Thanks for posting. Sure it will be interesting.


71 posted on 01/24/2012 8:30:46 PM PST by Freedom56v2 ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it is free"--PJ O'rourke)
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To: TPOOH

It’s not the advertising that is worrisome. It is the tracking.


72 posted on 01/24/2012 8:33:51 PM PST by Freedom56v2 ("If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait till it is free"--PJ O'rourke)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop

All your gmail emails are parsed by computer. Send a friend an email with say the word China in it. You’ll probably see a targeted ad about trips to China in the sidebar very soon after. It’s the same for Yahoo and I expect hotmail/windows live also.

If you want privacy, the best bet is get your own domain or there is always hushmail.com.


73 posted on 01/24/2012 9:35:13 PM PST by expat1000
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To: steve86

“With a response like that you clearly don’t understand the scope of this.”

How so?


74 posted on 01/24/2012 11:56:36 PM PST by jessduntno ("'How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." - Adolph Hitler)
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To: saganite

We need more competitors.

China’s Alibaba hires US lobbying firm as it eyes buying Yahoo!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/8982091/Chinas-Alibaba-hires-US-lobbying-firm-as-it-eyes-buying-Yahoo.html


75 posted on 01/25/2012 12:07:46 AM PST by Nickname
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To: Red_Devil 232

No, Firefox has no idea what Internet Explorer is doing and vice versa, unless you ask one of them to import cookies or other stuff from the other.

But all windows of Firefox know what the other windows of Firefox are doing, and all windows of Internet Explorer know what the other windows of Internet Explorer are doing.


76 posted on 01/25/2012 4:58:53 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Sometimes progressives find their scripture in the penumbra of sacred bathroom stall writings (Tzar))
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To: bushwon

That too.


77 posted on 01/25/2012 5:47:57 AM PST by TPOOH (I wish I could have been Jerry Reed.)
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To: cynwoody
Firefox can be run as a portable app, which puts the program inside its own walled garden. You can even have multiple walled gardens; just set up multiple copies in separate directories.

Another advantage is that you can run it from a thumb drive and take your bookmarks and settings to another computer.

78 posted on 01/25/2012 6:46:15 AM PST by transducer
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To: HiTech RedNeck

thanks!


79 posted on 01/25/2012 8:12:38 AM PST by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: transducer
Firefox can be run as a portable app

Thanks! I'd heard of that in connection with thumb drives, but I'd never actually looked at it.

80 posted on 01/25/2012 9:05:13 AM PST by cynwoody
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