RSS Feeds
Online
Google Cuts Personal Data Retention Time in Half, Still Knows Everything About You
Posted by Adam Frucci at 2:20 AM on September 10, 2008
Google has just made a change to its privacy policy, cutting the retention time for your personal data from 18 months to 9 months. This means that now Google will only be able to build a frighteningly accurate portrait of you that advertisers will salivate over based on your searches, keywords found in your Gmail, videos viewed on YouTube, feeds subscribed to in Google Reader and surf history in Chrome based on a mere 9 months of information. All together now: thank you, Google overlords, for your benevolence! [Reuters]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
MichelleDatsun
Posted 2:54 AM 10/9/08
I never understood what the big deal is. Unless advertisers are actually showing up at your door and shoving their products in your face, what do you have to worry about? I don't have to buy anything I don't want to buy. Regardless of whether you get an ad about something you're interested in or not, you're still going to get an ad and that's not going to change. I do however believe that advertisers should pay an extra fee for eating up 25-50% of everyone's bandwidth.
MichelleDatsun
Taurus_McGee
Posted 2:43 AM 10/9/08
Yikes - I don't want Google knowing how often I look up Asian ladyboys... Wait, what? Ummm - never mind.
Taurus_McGee
bflaming55
Posted 2:33 AM 10/9/08
Chrome is nice, but if I'm gonna do anything important or secure I switch to Firefox.
bflaming55
gelatinous
Posted 2:31 AM 10/9/08
I for one welcome... sorry had to.
gelatinous
hindsight2020
Posted 2:31 AM 10/9/08
that is why I am glued to Firefox! Chrome is for car rims anyway!
hindsight2020
b0bcat
Posted 2:28 AM 10/9/08
Isn't half of forever still forever?
b0bcat
russdanger
Posted 2:24 AM 10/9/08
Everyone needs to start spending a part of every day Googling subjects that they have absolutely no interest in to turn their demographics into shyte...
russdanger
strider_mt2k
Posted 3:36 AM 10/9/08
@b0bcat: Only in the city on the edge of it.
Many such journeys are possible...
strider_mt2k
frigg
Posted 4:23 AM 10/9/08
Actually, Google retains it forever. They simply de-link it with individuals after, apparently, the third trimester.
frigg
GadgetPlay
Posted 6:54 AM 10/9/08
@strider_mt2k: Joan Collins was so hot!
And that Cordwainer Bird was some writer!
GadgetPlay
Nick_Bentley
Posted 5:54 PM 10/9/08
If you use Gmail, don't be logged into it when you search for stuff on Goggle. Same with their other services.
It may seem creepy, but would you rather have ads that are random and no interest at all to you?
I do think Google has gotten to be a monopoly and that may come to haunt them someday, but are the crossing the line like Microsoft did? Not by a longshot. They aren't forcing anyone to use it to search, they just invented a better mousetrap and that's why people use it. I worry about all the information they have, but I also haven't heard of them doing anything nefarious with it either. Until there's a Google executive with a monocle and a white cat, then I'll worry a little more.
Nick_Bentley
quasimotto
Posted 12:51 PM 12/9/08
any browser with ad blocker >>>>>>>> Google Chrome
quasimotto