Turn off Google tracking of your searches

[DaveInOroValley]

Don't know about you but I don't like big brother watching anything, Use the link below to clear and turn off history tracking of any searches you do. Very soon this info is going to be sold and or distributed.

http://news.yahoo.com/how-to-remove-your-google-web-data-history.html

[GMG]

From what I heard this is only if you have a Google account right?

If you don't have a Google acct. but use there search engine, no problem right?

[resident-shooter]

Big corporations made this country great. Dont take this away from them!

[Turo]

I don't trust you... Or Google... I'm turning off the computer... and putting my hat back on.

[NeenachGuy]

Anybody else notice that after searching for certain items, you get random junk mail from companies selling similar stuff? The other day, I searched for fencing materials on Google, and then shortly after that, I got an email out of the blue from Northern Tool company highlighting their farm fences and gates selections. The weird thing is that it was sent to a different email than what is registered on Google.

I think the Internet sucks us in with the lure of convenience and easy info at our fingertips, but meanwhile, we've lost something even more important.

[Meety Peety]

This won't really do anything significant. If Google wants to track what you search, they will, even if you don't see it happening client-side. Think about all of those people who go on trial for murder when suddenly some investigator comes up with a list of Google searches like "How do i get away with it" etc etc.. and I'm sure they cleared their history . More of less you are toggling whether or not they display your browsing history, not whether or not they track what you search for personal monetary gain.

On a side note, every time I go to Newegg and look something up (Not via Google, just searching their site) Youtube will have a new banner ad featuring whatever item I was looking at. Really discomforting

[Autarchist]

This won't really do anything significant. If Google wants to track what you search, they will, even if you don't see it happening client-side.

This is true. They track your activity a number of ways (IP address, cookies, etc), your google accounts are just one way. Don't expect Google to get rid of information so easily. It's like asking someone to take money out of their wallet and burn it. Pretty sure they still have on file all the search activity since they started at Stanford. They knew early on how valuable that sort of information is and capitalized on it greatly. We live in the information age, meaning that information is some of the most valuable currency.

If you really want to achieve any sort of anonymity, it takes more effort than that. One easy way is to use the Tor browser bundle or, if you are even more serious, you might go with Tails. Just because you want to be anonymous doesn't mean you have "bad" or "illegal" intentions. In fact, in some places in the world, using such anonymizing protocols is the only way people can access the internet. Things seem to be heading that way in the US as well, the government seems hell-friggin-bent on controlling the internet (contrary to what many say, yes, they CAN do so), so you might be doing yourself a favor familiarizing yourself with these technologies.

[Deadbolt]

I don't trust you... Or Google... I'm turning off the computer... and putting my hat back on.

this.


Im a firm believer that, like gun laws, only those that don't understand the web are the ones beating the drums here. There are real limitations to "private information" in terms of what is socially communicable by the browser. Cookies, Session data - all of that is part and parcel of any website experience since 1999. People hear "privacy" and "tracking" and go ape. The sad reality is that all this "tracking" and "privacy" information related to browsing habbits is still largely anonn and ONLY serves purpose to allow marketing companies to create stereotypes of behavior and then sell ad space to those behavioral patterns.

Its no different than a sales man approaching you in a mattress store. Homeboy knows you want a mattress, sees you looking at a few, decides to offer some tips / help. All "tracking" does (websites here, not talking gps or something else ) is allow the "company" a window into browsing behavior and how to better sell their product.

Now if it were a site like Citi Bank or some other actually sensitive institution selling private account data - then there are already laws for that and such - but to confuse these two scenarios is just an example of the individual having no real concept of what the web is.

[problemchild]

Use start page with ssl on. It uses google search engine and blocks google from tracking and NO logs.