Listen up Google account holders, you only have a few remaining hours before the web search giant enforces its new privacy policy set to take effect March 1. The U.S. Internet company said in January that it was abridging its privacy policy, combining data on users from all of its platforms–search, Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google+ and the Android operating system to name a few. Since users cannot opt out of the changes, it’s caused quite a stir among consumer and privacy advocates, public officials and international government agencies.
The company is reminding users that they won’t be collecting any more data than they were before and the new terms have several added perks–more accurate web search results, features that work across various platforms, and more targeted advertisements–however, as Internet watch dogs have expressed, folks aren’t buying it.
Google’s shift from profiling users separately on each of its products and sites to a single compilation of data found in profile form has users up in arms. Â The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a San Francisco-based nonprofit foundation that advocates for online privacy and digital right, stated: “Search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more.”
BlackEnterprise.com has a few quick pointers on tip toeing around Google’s privacy policy (or at least will allow you to cruise the Internet with greater ease).
Forget signing in
Many Google services don’t require users to sign in, so don’t even bother. If you are not logged into Google + or Gmail, Google won’t know who you are and, thus, can’t add data to your profile. Happy searching!
Turn off Google search history
Sign in to your Google account. Then go to www.google.com/history or go
to “Account Settings†menu at the top of your navigation settings. Go to the “Services†section and choose whether you’d like to view, enable or disable your web history.Click here to continue reading…
Clear your browsing history on…
Chrome
Go to the far right of your toolbar and click on the wrench icon. Select tools and go to “clear browsing data.†To clear your entire browsing history, select “Beginning of Time.â€
Firefox and Internet Explorer
Go to the “Tools†menu; click on “Clear Recent History.â€
Wipe YouTube history
Once signed in to Google’s main page, click on “YouTube†in the toolbar on the top of the page. Click on your user name and choose “Video Manager.†After selecting history on the left-hand side of the page, opt to “Clear Viewing History.â€
Remove Gmail chat history
Before you begin chatting, make sure your conversations are “off the record.†Making this selection will not store your chat history or the history of the person with whom you’re talking to. Conversations with that specific person will not be recorded until you manually turn that function back on. To go off the record, select the “Actions†tab in chat and select “Go off the record.â€
Don’t forget: If you’re at your wits end with the changes, you can delete your entire Google account altogether.