Google knows everything about you. Google knows your address. Google knows what you buy. Google knows all the dirty things that you search for late at night. Want to see this in action? You can see what Google thinks you are interested in here or what it knows about you from the services you use here, and they are not the only ones doing it.
Apple is watching you!
It was recently revealed that Apple have been tracking iPhone users’ locations using the GPS in the phone. You can find out where Apple has tracked you by downloading this application to your computer. (Don’t worry, it only reads the information already tracked, it doesn’t take it)
Facebook knows what you “like”
I’ve noticed that the “Sponsored Ads” section on Facebook has been getting increasingly specific. Yesterday I had adverts for web developer courses, mens fashion and fire poi school in Costa Rica, all things that I would consider buying. Ever since Facebook introduced the “Like” button, they have been building a profile of your interests, and you have let them. By clicking “Like” anywhere on the web, you help create this profile and Facebook tailors its adverts based on your personality. Google is doing the same thing with banner adverts on millions of websites.
So why are they doing this?
As worrying as many people may find this, they are collecting this information to help you. By tracking your movements (online and offline) the adverts you see all over the web become relevant and specific to you. The information is collected on hundreds of servers buried deep under thousands of lines of code. Complex algorithms look at this information, determine what you like and give you the content you are interested in.
However, this information is not available to other humans. Your neighbour cannot phone up Google and ask for your internet history and neither can anyone else. The entire process is automated, and unless you’re worried about a robot judging you for watching 2 girls 1 cup, you don’t need to panic.
The future of privacy
As I said in Part 1 I share everything about my life online. I’m past worrying about Google knowing what I’m doing. I’m sharing exactly where I am 4 or 5 times a day using Foursquare, and this is only getting more and more normal. Google Latitude shares exactly where you are, all the time if you set it to, but as I have said before; you don’t have to turn it on.