On March 1, 2012 Google unified its privacy policy across all services. This means all of Google’s data will be aggregated and used to customize and target advertising (among other things) aimed at users.
Some people aren’t too keen on the idea, and would like to continue to use Google, but without all the privacy invading tracking. Below are direct links to all of the various services that allow you to opt-out or disable Google tracking. If you find any others please let us know so we can refresh the list for the benefit of all.
Why might you care that Google can access your entire history?
Because of what unscrupulous employees most certainly are doing sometimes. Or because of what hackers are doing sometimes. Or, just because there’s no clear benefit to you to allow it.
How to Disable as Much Google Tracking as Possible
Go through each of the following pages and delete, then disable, all tracking.
- Google Web History
- Youtube History
- YouTube Search History
- Latitude History
- Chat History
- Opt Out of Ad Targeting
Other Things You Can Do
- Remove the Google Toolbar
- Don’t Log Into Google
- Use the Tor browser
Any other suggestions? Please share them with us below!
I use the Opera browser, Yahoo! search.
I’m currently using Chrome and a few extensions that block tracking. The ones I have are:
AdBlock Plus
Do Not Track Plus
Ghostery
Keep My Opt Outs
Use HTTPS
Hello John P.
thanks for the well written article. Keep up the great work!
People who value their privacy can also use the Opera or Firefox browser since they can activate a private tab for browsing which leaves no trail over the internet and also no cookies are registered when browsing in private mode.
Take care,
nick
“However, as is common practice in the industry, and as outlined in the Google Privacy Policy, Google maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users.”
smh