A stranger following you, every time you leave your home or office, is something that no one of us will ever welcome. Someone who does it daily is Google, in fact we permit Google to do it every single day. What lures you into this are the free services and an easily accessible web feature. Google, meanwhile, has never hidden this fact and it’s clearly mentioned in the privacy policy. The question is how many of us have actually read this policy before accepting it?
Wondering what all Google can know? Answer is your location via GPS, other information through your phone logs. So, if you wish to hide your personal information from Google, here are some steps which can help you do so, easily.
Move to the Google Dashboard, which gives access to all Google Services like Google Plus, YouTube and more, where you can control the privacy level. This helps in limiting the amount of info shared publically.
Cookies keep accumulating in your PC, and you thus need to clean these regularly. As Google uses them as a unique identifier, to collect information and give advertisers access to your contact info.
VPN aka Virtual Private Network, helps you experience anonymity while surfing the web, which means you can now stay hidden from not just Google, but hackers and others.
Switch to the Incognito or the InPrivate option, which is a secured browsing feature that helps in protecting your privacy over the web. It can be activated in Chrome, Mozilla and Internet Explorer as well.
Download the DoNotTrack app/plug-in without any further delay. This is if you do not have complete trust over the above mentioned app, this tool extends to all tracking tools and puts a check on how your online activity is tracked. In case you did not know, DNT keeps a check on the cookies as well.
A removal request can be made to Google in case you wish to delete any of your info being shared to the world. So, file this request now.
Google Maps is an interesting and useful feature, but we hope you do not wish the world to know where you are? If yes, then remove your house from the Google Maps now. It’s a simple three step process, which can help you do this easily.
Choose what you wish to share on the various social profiles via Google, so, don’t be an open book to the world and make changes now on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and others.
Stay away from Google search, we know it may sound absurd and tough, but doing so will help in decreasing the hassle of going public, significantly.
Google+ Chrome combo must be a complete no-no, especially if using this on your phone. If logged in, Google can be unknowingly following you everywhere you go. When on your home PC, at your work computer or any place else.
Avoid adding any details in the first place, to keep away from seeing your info being shared at places you never wish. It’s better to not do it, rather than feel culpable later.
So, here were the top 11 ways by which you can keep your ‘private’ information on Google actually ‘private’, at least to some extent. Also, if you thought it’s just Google collecting your info, then think again, as there are many companies doing the same, secretly! -
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