Stop Google from knowing every move you make

If Google ever chooses a corporate anthem, I vote for "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, which includes the possibly sweet/possibly creepy promise that "I'll be watching you." Two especially appropriate lines from the song are "every move you make" and "every step you take," because Google already has those down.

It's no secret that Google stores your location history. It pulls where you travel from the Google apps on your Android or Apple smartphone, or from Android's built-in location tracking. But in the past, it stored the information for only 30 days.

If you were interested in getting location-aware searches and other features, the 30-day limit was a nice compromise between service and privacy. But things have changed, especially if you use Google's personal digital assistant, Google Now.

Understanding your Google Timeline

Google’s location history site is called Timeline, and you can find it by signing in to your Google account and going google.com/maps/timeline. Prepare for a shock.

Right away, you'll see dots showing everywhere you've been. There's no expiration, so there could be months or years of tracking data available. You can zoom in on each dot for more information. If you want to narrow down your locations by time period, the controls are at the top of the page.

There's also an overview panel at the bottom of the screen that tells how many places have been logged and gives a summary of all the places you’ve traveled outside your usual area. If you scroll horizontally in the overview panel, you'll see the option for pausing location history and editing saved places like work and home.

The promise Google can’t keep

When it comes to location tracking, Google explains, "Your location is reported by your mobile device and only you can see it." But the company shouldn’t make that promise. What it fails to mention is that anyone using your browser can see your location history, too, as long as you’re logged in to your Google account.

There are tons of applications that use Google accounts. Gmail and Google Music are two of the obvious ones. But what about products Google owns, like YouTube? If you're logged to any of these sites, someone using your browser can basically spy on you.

That's why it's always a good idea to sign out of Google and any of its sites after using them on public and shared computers. Otherwise, a snooping significant other, friend or stalker can have a field day. You can also set up your own password-protected account and lock it whenever you step away from the computer.

Another way Google can track you is through your photos. If you upload images into the new Google Photos service, they'll show up in Timeline and show where they were taken.

Beyond location tracking

You might be thinking that a complete history of your locations isn't so bad. But Google is keeping track of a lot more than where you hung out for a bit.

Go back to the calendar tools at the top of the Timeline page. If you choose a year, it will show you all the location data for that year. If you choose a year and month, it will show you the location data for that year and month. But if you select a specific day, you'll see something scary. Your full day's itinerary, including what times you were at each location and the route you took to get there, will be shown in detail.

It isn't just the routes you take in your car, either. I regularly go jogging, and when I look at my location history for one of my jogging days, I can see the exact path I took around the neighborhood. It's a little creepy.

How to stop it

The good news is that it’s easy to stop Google from tracking your every move. To turn off location history, you need to log in to your Google account and go to your Timeline. Once there, follow these steps:

1. Click the gear icon in the lower-right corner of the map.

2. Click “Pause Location History.”

3. Click “Delete All Location History” as an extra precaution.

You can also turn off location tracking on your smartphone. There are a few minor differences between iPhone and Android, but the general process is the same.

1. Go to the Google Search app, tap your profile picture and choose “Settings.”

2. Tap “Privacy,” then “Location.”

3. Slide "Location reporting" off. You can also tap "Location history" to delete what’s already been stored.

If you’re still worried about Google's location tracking after you’ve turned it off, I recommend trying these three search sites that respect your privacy and getting a more private alternative to Google Maps for Android and Apple.



http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2016/03/19/stop-google-from-knowing-every-move-make.html/

The Police - Every breath you take lyrics: http://youtu.be/_wsMEj2ZfW8/

Big Brother!

what happened to ''life liberty and pursuit of happiness''........the liberals won, we are now a socialist state.........

IMO

Ignorant people fall victim to key words.

Safety
Security
Free
Diversity
Equally

Etc..

And don't realize, 'nothing is free'. And don't realize (or care), what rights or privileges they are giving up.
Or what 'doors', can & will be opened or closed.

Entitlement = Slavery

I know when I step out the door that I can't be followed because I don't carry a phone

I hope theyre watching me through my webcam now...Im flipping them off...

I'm Givin em the Scotia kilt tilt salute.

Hhhaaa.. How did I miss all this?
You guys are hysterical!

Don't think you can put it any better than that.

Conrad...and the illuminati is watching you

I don't use any Google sites. I always clear all my private data after EVERY site I visit using CCleaner. I use no tracking search engines. Amazon is a problem though. Bastards! Many times I can't beat their deals anywhere. Ebay is an issue too. Just remember not to buy anything questionable from any large website.

Not only Google even the government knows where you go and Apple is the same as Google but it's worse with Google. Androids running 5.0 lollipop and beyond have selinux enabled by default and can't be shut off. selinux is a nsa creation and it's built into the kernel it basically gives the nsa access to the device without permission. If your android is rooted you can try and download an app called selinux mode changer what it does is lets you change the kernel permission from enforcing to permissive

scared Spitless yet?

I lost my saliva..... years ago.

What do you do to compensate?

Ya.. talking to me ?

It was a figure of speech, it wasn't literal.

Y'all do realize that Google is one of our main advertisers??

So guess what all your post belong to the wild world net~~

Happy Typing~~~~