In this article I explain how and why Google tracks you and what alternative search engines you can use to protect yourself.
Why Google tracks you
By now, you should be pretty much aware of the fact that Google keeps track of every step you make. Every search request you make through the engine is noted and the way you traverse the search result links is being evaluated.
Why?
Because Google has established a gigantic monopoly in the area of website indexing and user data collection. Of course you heard of all the exciting and innovative products Google is coming up with and researching on.
But is it where the money comes from?
Nope. More than 90% of Google income comes from their most successful product - Advertisements. And what is the most valuable asset when it comes to intelligent advertising? Damn right, it's user data. Insane amounts of collected user data parsed by AI-powered Data mining algorithms.
It's safe to say that Google knows more about you than your mom.
How Google tracks you
The ways in which Google monitors your behavior is a topic so vast, that it would take books to do it just. So let me give you a brief insight and break it down to some simple terms.
You are identified on the Web by your unique IP address. When you are surfing the web and navigating to websites using the Google search form, Google creates a user profile linked to your IP.
Based on the search terms you are using, your profile will soon get filled out by adding categories like: Age: 20-30 (searches for clubs), Male (Searches for men's clothing), Republican (searches for conservative news) and so on. This profile then gets updated and expanded upon, every further Google session you open.
Now comes the really interesting part, it's called account cross-linking. When you access your Gmail account, your Google profile gets synchronized with all data available to Google about activities you did while logged in. Now, if you happen to login to your Youtube account from the same IP address, all statistics about the kind of video content you enjoy get added in the mix.
Are we having fun yet?
Repeat this for any other third-party Google service and you obtain a painfully detailed profile of exactly who you are and what you like.
Oh, by the way, did you know that every user gets unique results back from Google based on their profile? True story.
I will spare my dear reader the elaboration on why this should be deeply concerning to anyone who cares about privacy, and move on to what we can do about this.
Stop using Google
That's pretty much the best thing you can do.
I know, I know, Google is so damn fluffy and convenient. All other search engines don't find Jack. True - it may be frustrating to use other search engines as they don't deliver the results with Google's efficiency. But that is because:
A) We never gave them a chance to learn more i.e. didn't give them even 0.1% of the training data Google received
B) We are too spoiled by Google's performance.
Are you willing to give the other search engines a chance?
My Number 1 alternative - DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo (https://duckduckgo.com) is an absolutely brilliant company.
It originates in Pennsylvania, US and was established around 2008. The company prides itself in respecting user privacy. It does not track it's dear customers and provides search results without profiling, which means that everyone gets to see the same results. This is why this search engine is endorsed by the Mozilla Foundation, The Tor Project and pretty much the whole Linux community.
Take a look at these awesome features taken straight from the homepage
Conclusion
Is it better that Google? No.
At least not in terms of search efficiency. But it is better than Google in thousand other ways. You might have to search for something 2-3 times, you might have to be more specific with your queries but believe me - it is worth the hassle. I have completely switched to DuckDuckGo this year. I have set is as my default homepage and search engine and I've never looked back since. I still occasionally use Google when I really depend on it, but 99% of the time it's the Duck for me.
Why don't you give it a chance too? Head over to https://duckduckgo.com and give it a spin.
If I can convince a single steemian to make the switch with me I'll consider this a mission accomplished.
More Articles like this:
Do you want to learn how to protect yourself from browser tracking? (Read article)
Do you want to know how to protect Internet Freedom? (Read article)
- Nick ( @cryptonik ) -
Great. True, even no idea how Chrome browser work? As it is a software they can have anything executing behind the scenes.
DuckDuckGo with Brave browser could solve tracking issue may be. Must try...
Absolutely! Go for it. Both are really great solutions. If you are on Firefox you can add the "Ghostery" add-on into the mix to protect from tracking, it's the best. Here is a tutorial on this.
Exactly the reason why I dislike Chrome. As a Google product it circumvents all restrictions other browsers might impose, using Chrome you are basically agreeing to full monitoring while you surf.
Yeah, I will read about Ghostery and will try.
This is happening because Data is the oil of new age. These companies use such Data for their own good and to sell as well.
De-centralization is shattering every established giant in today's industry. Let's see where it leads us...
It definitely is. And the data is being processed more efficiently than ever with data mining algorithms. We must make sure that we stay true to the values of crypto: freedom, censorship-resistance and decentralized trust - and that it will be used for greatness, and not abused for evil like everything else.
Ahaan, I hear you...
I've been using startpage and occasionally duck duck go. I still use google once in awhile but it is usually only to search for images that are labeled for reuse.
I think I actually heard of someone making a program that would automatically search random crap like video games, cat images and memes throughout the day to feed Google false information and also increase there server load. How cool would that be?
There is an add-on called AdNauseam. When you enter a page it will randomly click on a few ads for you, but in the background. You won't get to see the ads. Since it always chooses randomly, the advertiser soon get's confused on what products you like....there is just no pattern in all the noise.
Awesome project, and it is banned and blacklisted in Chrome :D
I really like Startpage, was going to include it in this post but decided not to overstretch it and include it in the next one. You are right, it is great!
Startpage also has a private browsing function that basically acts as a VPN. It opens the website for you in their browser window so your ISP just sees startpage.
I've been hearing a surprising amount about Duck Duck Go the past week or so. I don't know if it has to do with the end of year/beginning of year and tech, but it hasn't just been on Steemit. This has been one of the better write ups about why people should be making the switch off of Google to anything else, and why DDG is the best alternative.
What's sad is that ages ago, which actually isn't that long ago, there were a lot of search engines, like you mentioned. It used to be that we'd cross-check through a few of them to see who had what information, rather than just trust that just one place had all of the information. It's so weird now to think that there's entire generations who don't realise that this isn't how things always were, and that it's not necessarily a good thing.
Thanks for the reminder. I'm in the process of trying to find something other than Chrome (again)/Google because of crashes that plays nicely with all sites (which has me going through a few of your posts).
It is very nice to see you find your way here. You should definitely seek alternatives to Chrome, since using Chrome is like letting the Devil inside your house. Chrome is snooping on your activities by default. If you are interested in securing your home network I suggest you take small incremental steps in improving the software you use. In part 2 I mention startpage as another convenient alternative to Google. As a browser I suggest Firefox enhanced with the Ghostery add-on, which I describe here. If you want to go full Pro-mode I suggest switching to Ubuntu OS and using the Brave Browser. Brave Browser is the new kid on the block - with a crypto system and tracker removal by default.
The Mozilla Foundation and the FSF are great places to check out free and open alternatives to commercial software, as well as further post of mine since this is the topic I will focus on mostly. :)
It'd take a bit to switch over to Ubuntu ATM; I have been considering having a dual set up (some sort of Linux and Windows load out) for a bit, but I've been putting it off till I get around to finally upgrading my hard drives.
What's unfortunate is that Chrome originally didn't have as much tracking shite as it does now. At the moment, I have five add-ons (Ghostery one of them) to keep tracking as mitigated as possible. I had switched back to Chrome sometime last year (or possibly late the year before) because Firefox had derped out during an update and was taking a weird amount of system resources, and it was starting to just slow down my whole system. It was super frustrating because I really didn't want to do Chrome again. I even tried Vivaldi for a bit, but it was just so new, there wasn't a lot going for it just yet.
Go with Brave browser if you want to be the hippest dude on the block. (It blocks all the nasty by default so it's mighty fast). Firefox was acting up for me too, but now that Quantum's out it's a charm. You sure you're on the newest Firefox? Kudos for using Vivaldi. By the way Opera has built-in free VPN. I'm sorry but Chrome was never "good" - it has a wide open backdoor included in your installation. It's like handing your data over to Google on a silver plate.
I use dual-boot, it's great. It's not that difficult to setup actually, there are some nice tutorials online ;^)
The installation of Firefox I had issues with was in like 2016, and it was up-to-date at the time. I'd tried Vivalidi since it was an offshoot of Opera, for that exact reason - at that time, I didn't have my own full VPN (now I do).
I'm looking at Brave's site though. They've got some pretty interesting information - especially for the mobile version. While bandwidth isn't a huge issue for me because I'm largely homebound and on wi-fi, anything to make downloading faster is appealing - and having something cutting down on data does that.
Thanks!
I was trying to make a change for quite sometime. Will give this a try
That is good to hear. Go for it :)
You've been busy Nick. Took me awhile to catch up on these blog posts 😀
True! I want to try and post more regularly from now on :)
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