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I personally enjoy Google saving my search history, as it has come in handy more than a few times when I needed a search I did 2 years ago. If they want to use it, as long as they give me the option to opt out, I'm cool. I know there are people out there who aren't as open, so to each their own. I seldom think I am important/interesting enough for someone to really care about what I do. If there is, I feel sorry for that person. ;)
That said, here's a question. Has anyone been having Google \"forget\" your search preferences, and all of a sudden you have 10 results on your page, instead of 50, in all languages, and safe filter on?
@ThatIdiotJeffrey_GitEmSteveDave:Google repeatedly forgets my search preferences. Sometimes it's a few time a week, sometimes a couple months can go by without it happening. I know someone at Google who is looking for patterns/clues, and I've forwarded him a link to this discussion. Can you say what operating system you use, what browser (name and version number) and whether you are logged in to Google when it happens? If anyone else has this problem: same questions.
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@AfraidOfVelcro_GitEmSteveDave: You could easily store your old search history on your own computer by using your browser settings. There is no need for Google to keep it all for you, and there are downsides to letting them do that.
I think that there is a real privacy issue with this sort of data collection. (And I should be clear that what I have a problem with is the storage of the history in the first place, linked to my identifiable information, rather than its use for targeted ads). You might not think your search information is very private, but think about some of the stuff that gets in there, like addresses that you've searched for on Google Maps. If you regularly use that to get directions, they can easily tell where you live, etc. This isn't a huge issue if all this data is being used only the way it is right now, but I can easily see numerous ways that the Google search data could become quite dangerous in the hands of people intent on using it for other purposes than what Google is using it for (for example, insurance companies, employers, local police, attorneys in civil lawsuits...). Credit card companies are already judging us based on where we shop; health or life insurance companies could do the same to identify people who patronize businesses frequented by \"sick people\" and deny coverage, for example.
@johnva: Some of these searches were done on a terminal at my old job. NO way to transfer files off of it, as it was a bank, and they had everything locked down very tight, and I wasn't about to press my luck. The saved searches ALSO saved the results that I clicked on, which is the info I usually need when I go back to search. I also have access to it/add to it wherever I can log into my G-count.
As for my address, any e-mail I receive confirming a purchase shows where it's getting sent to and where it's being paid from. I don't normally get directions from Google, b/c I have a GPS w/a unique ID which is registed to me through Garmin. There's someone who knows \"everywhere\" you go.
Like I said before, I not that concerned who knows that much about me. I pretty much bare all in my avatar here, I run/have a website w/4 webcams set-up throughout my house that broadcast 24/7(as long as they are working), and speak my mind. I will confess that I maintain two identities online, one being GitEmSteveDave, and the other being the email address/SN I put on job applications and my business cards. I do a pretty good job making sure the two don't ever show up together, though, as I might not want a future employer knowing my feelings on politics/corporations.
If I ever find out someone goes/went through all the trouble to track/find out as much as they can about me, I will admit it will be a shot to my ego, and I might have trouble fitting through doors. My life is depressing enough having to live it myself. If anyone was forced to study up on me, I confess that I would not be surprised if they needed to see a shrink. :\\
@ThatIdiotJeffrey_GitEmSteveDave:
Interesting that employers would be concerned with people taking data out via local files, but not so concerned with Google gathering and logging all the search information of their employees. I'm actually surprised that the existence of this comprehensive external logging isn't a bigger confidentiality concern for employers. If you have access to Google, you could easily send out confidential information through that channel.
My bigger concern, like I said, is not how they're using this information now. It's that the private information is eternal, potentially. Someone in the future could come up with a nasty, nefarious use for all that data and turn it against us. They might use techniques that haven't even been invented yet to mine through it, or to link it to other information sources that don't exist yet.
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Who's to say that Google still isn't selling your browsing history to marketing agencies?
@HiPwr:
just to add, when you're here on consumerist, you're getting content (and potentially cookies) from:
google.com
google-analytics.com
atdmt.com
fbcdn.net
facebook.com
sitemeter.com
quantserve.com
digg.com
yimg.com
typepad.com
@HiPwr:
If you accept any cookies, you've always been giving your browsing history to multiple websites. Using the NoScript plugin to Firefox can prevent you from granting googleadservices.com (and others, you can easily tell by their names when NoScript filters them out as you visit websites) access to your history.
When you visit a website, you're accepting cookies from 5-10 other websites. Shady, but not illegal, so at that point, you're implicit in them having your browsing history, and can do what they want with it.