So in essence this is for the people who are in denial, right? Toggling the button doesn't effect what or how Google collects your data, only that you can't see it. "Yes I use Google, let Google collect my info, but under no circumstance do I want to see that info." Like what?
If you don't want Google scanning your emails, don't use Gmail. Don't want Google seeing all your queries, don't send them to Google in the first place. Use Duckduckgo or some other service.
I would have guessed this is for people who want to do a "neutral" search query without it being affected by where you are located or your past searches; I am not sure why you would jump to privacy? I guess the options feel a bit like privacy options, looking at it more carefully... but I would still see wanting to turn this off just to avoid ending up in situations where your history pollutes your screen (such as in demos).
- the setting for whether your Google activity is used for ad targeting is at https://adssettings.google.com (the checkbox under "Advanced", if you're signed in).
- For non-Google activity, the setting for turning off Google ad cookies on random ad-carrying websites is to block third-party cookies in your browser. For Chrome, it is at chrome://settings/cookies
I need such an feature because google always seems to prefer the information that i already know.
Sometimes i'm looking for websites i don't know yet because the information is rare...
Sucks that it needs an Google Account (which is no option for me), but i can have a similar effect by using duckduckgo.
This are indeed separate effects of surveillance.
For most people surveillance does not affect them, if they are not consciously aware of it all the time.
They might know it, or remember it, from time to time.
But they fade it out.
It is like the backrest of your chair. You just recognize it, if you focus on it.
Most of the time, you don't. So the question is, do you sense it all the time, just not being aware of it?
But after all, just because Google will not turn the collected data against you at the moment, it does not mean, they won't in the future. Or some of their contractors. Or some third party instrumenting google. Or some regulator ...
I know Google will occasionally bring literal personal information into your search results- for example if I search "directions home" it will show my home address in the search results. If you're frequently using Search in a location where you don't want these things to appear on your screen, I can definitely see it being useful. I know it's brought up contact information and random crap from emails up in Search before for me.
DDG is not a silver bullet. I use it, but only when combining it with a VPN or sometimes Tor for ultra private searches. DDG is a US company and the US doesn't have a good track record for spying and human rights. DDG's servers are all Amazon based too meaning the data is probably tapped and being spied upon. There's no way of knowing, so combine DDG with an anonymous proxy if you can.
On top of that: personalized search is the only thing I miss from when I used Google services. It's the only case I can point to where data collection actually benefitted the product in some small way. If I'm going to give them my data anyway, there's no way I'm turning that off.
I think most likely this is a sham "privacy" feature that Google is shipping solely for PR reasons
It can be also for people who plan on occasionally sharing their PC. It could be a bit embarrassing to let your friend/family member fo a search and get tailored results
Haha yeah, this is me and I am indeed ridiculous. :D
I try my hardest not to use Google products because I don't like tracking. Occasionally though I'm forced to use things like YouTube as it's the only source for certain information.
I turn off the personalised ads not because I think it stops them tracking me but because of the vague hope that if I still see the ads and they don't need to be personalised then just maybe Google would see the subservience as an unnecessary overhead.
...which is still just wishful thinking on my part.
For the record I would happily accept personalised adverts based on context if they would just packing in the forced tracking.
Honestly DDG is not much better than google, hosted in Amazon and got caught selling data from their users, in the matter of search engines we're pm screwed, the ones that are really private like YacY, SearX and MetaGer don't provide results as good as google simply because they don't track the user.
About not using Google, well they're even crawling data from Telegram Groups, they're everywhere pretty hard to escape.
Ctrl+F shows nobody has mentioned searx yet, so let me - you can have your cake and eat it, too. searx uses modest resources (2G disk/2G RAM, cloud server friendly) and gives you all the results from all the search engines without being tracked in your end-user browser.
Here are some existing public instances to get started (visit Preferences! You can choose your own search engines!) and there are many, many more not listed on this page out there:
Give searx a try - what I like most is that it sees the same top result from 2 sources (say, Google and DDG) and places them as a single entry as first, but then offers a link that neither one of those had (say, Mojeek) as the second result. It actually helps you find more content by spreading out your searches to many engines at the same time and giving the best results grouped.
I have a whoogle and a searx instance running based on the official docker images. With my subjective tests Searx seems to be slower and buggy though. I am curious to know how can I optimize the speed as much as much possible.
Thanks a lot for this. Will definitely give this a go as I'm using Google for my programming related searches and DDG for normal searches. Will see if this satisfies my needs or not.
Note that the page says "personal results", not "personalized results". Even though the submitter chose that title, reading the page carefully I don't see mention of customizing the main search results based on my activity. It's about some specific types of results: autocomplete predictions, results from private data and recommendations.
It seems like a statement in today's announcement...
> Personal results in Search include... Personal answers based on info in your Google Account, like “my flights” from Gmail
...makes some aggressively ambiguous wording in a previous announcement [0] apparent...
> Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change.
So I guess anyone who assumed that "Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization" meant that your Gmail was not being scanned at all was mistaken, since today's setting implies that it was still being scanned for Search personalization?
There is a search bar in Gmail that can be used to search the content of your emails. I think most technical people who have used Gmail realize that it wouldn't be possible for that feature to work without something, somewhere reading your emails to index them.
In some case I want result relative to my location, or other info, and in other circumstances I want generic results. In some case I want result sorted by most recent first, and others I don't care or want the oldest info. In some case I want results in my mother language and others I want English results as well. Etc. etc.
My feeling is that google provides far too few search adjustment knobs and is spoon feeding me with what google thinks that would be relevant for me.
The strange thing is that all major search engine are just copying google's behavior on this aspect.
I mean, this must be a clear benefit to Google, they've removed almost all the abilities to target one's search and just about the only thing left appears to be using quotes ("") and that is only used as a weak signal for what is put in the SERPs.
There used to be a variable "pws=0" or something that gave non-geographic, non-personalised results.
It is clever tactic by privacy invasive industries to give us theoretically all the knobs to configure privacy but make them so confusing, so many, and scattered in so many places and with so many caveats, that within a rounding error, everyone is going to quickly get fatigued, confused and leave the settings as is, which in most cases is opt-out.
I want a setting for "Search for what I actually typed in the search bar" instead of trying to guess what I meant. I was advised to use advanced search syntax and operators but when I do I get a captcha challenge on every other search.
For the last 2 years, I have been having a much hard time searching on Google. Couple quick example:
1. The date filter no longer seems to work. For example, if I search for "reddit dating app" and set the date filter to be "Past week" or "Past month", it still shows me results from few years ago.
2. Using quotes for exact matches often doesn't work for me either.
I believe the first example is specifically a reddit problem, due to something they did with their date data.
I always search reddit for reviews and at some point, even though the result says "5 days ago" on Google, the result is actually years old when clicking through to reddit.
To be honest, I'm using Google because it usually works so well. Hiding the option, without stopping the underlying tracking and data collection, is just denial.
It would be great if Firefox allowed us to create "fake" e-mail addresses too, so we can subscribe to different services without giving away our identities.
I actually find the "personal" results useful so when I search for something like "python bug" I get things about issues with Python, not insects and snakes in the wilderness.
It's meant for when you have a flight ticket in your Gmail or a restaurant reservation then if you search the name of the restaurant or flights on Google it'll display a link to your email among the search results.
I think it's a brilliant feature and hope they expand it to many other receipts type things in Gmail
I wish there were a way to turn off personal results based upon country. It feels like google isolates us even further culturally.
When I'm in Japan I can search for japanese things easily, but when i'm in america it keeps giving me american-based websites with japanese stuff. I've legit used a VPN just for searching.
"Personalised results" should be something users turn on if they want to try it, not something they have to turn off.
User control is not Google's main priority. Money first. Defaults matter.
One of their current CEO's main projects before he became CEO was convincing vendors to pre-install a Google search bar. This is not something that can be "turned off". Most users do not change settings, let alone even know they exist.
Because of this reality, its defaults that really matter, not options. The defaults chosen define the intent of the company.
[+] [-] mimsee|4 years ago|reply
If you don't want Google scanning your emails, don't use Gmail. Don't want Google seeing all your queries, don't send them to Google in the first place. Use Duckduckgo or some other service.
[+] [-] saurik|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] listmaking|4 years ago|reply
- the settings for what data about your Google activity is retained are at https://myaccount.google.com/data-and-personalization — in particular, "Web & App Activity" at https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity (for new accounts, it defaults to all activity being deleted after 18 months).
- the setting for whether your Google activity is used for ad targeting is at https://adssettings.google.com (the checkbox under "Advanced", if you're signed in).
- For non-Google activity, the setting for turning off Google ad cookies on random ad-carrying websites is to block third-party cookies in your browser. For Chrome, it is at chrome://settings/cookies
[+] [-] Wowfunhappy|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blueflow|4 years ago|reply
Sucks that it needs an Google Account (which is no option for me), but i can have a similar effect by using duckduckgo.
[+] [-] PetahNZ|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DrLindemann|4 years ago|reply
It is like the backrest of your chair. You just recognize it, if you focus on it. Most of the time, you don't. So the question is, do you sense it all the time, just not being aware of it?
But after all, just because Google will not turn the collected data against you at the moment, it does not mean, they won't in the future. Or some of their contractors. Or some third party instrumenting google. Or some regulator ...
[+] [-] jackson1442|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] spansoa|4 years ago|reply
DDG is not a silver bullet. I use it, but only when combining it with a VPN or sometimes Tor for ultra private searches. DDG is a US company and the US doesn't have a good track record for spying and human rights. DDG's servers are all Amazon based too meaning the data is probably tapped and being spied upon. There's no way of knowing, so combine DDG with an anonymous proxy if you can.
[+] [-] brundolf|4 years ago|reply
I think most likely this is a sham "privacy" feature that Google is shipping solely for PR reasons
[+] [-] sharikone|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Lio|4 years ago|reply
I try my hardest not to use Google products because I don't like tracking. Occasionally though I'm forced to use things like YouTube as it's the only source for certain information.
I turn off the personalised ads not because I think it stops them tracking me but because of the vague hope that if I still see the ads and they don't need to be personalised then just maybe Google would see the subservience as an unnecessary overhead.
...which is still just wishful thinking on my part.
For the record I would happily accept personalised adverts based on context if they would just packing in the forced tracking.
[+] [-] amelius|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] froh|4 years ago|reply
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6603?hl=en
duckduckgo is powered by bing search, no?
[+] [-] valleyjo|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mrAnon218|4 years ago|reply
About not using Google, well they're even crawling data from Telegram Groups, they're everywhere pretty hard to escape.
[+] [-] spinax|4 years ago|reply
Here are some existing public instances to get started (visit Preferences! You can choose your own search engines!) and there are many, many more not listed on this page out there:
https://searx.space/
Give searx a try - what I like most is that it sees the same top result from 2 sources (say, Google and DDG) and places them as a single entry as first, but then offers a link that neither one of those had (say, Mojeek) as the second result. It actually helps you find more content by spreading out your searches to many engines at the same time and giving the best results grouped.
[+] [-] yewenjie|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stoicjumbotron|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gniv|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] throwslackforce|4 years ago|reply
> Personal results in Search include... Personal answers based on info in your Google Account, like “my flights” from Gmail
...makes some aggressively ambiguous wording in a previous announcement [0] apparent...
> Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization after this change.
So I guess anyone who assumed that "Consumer Gmail content will not be used or scanned for any ads personalization" meant that your Gmail was not being scanned at all was mistaken, since today's setting implies that it was still being scanned for Search personalization?
[0] https://blog.google/products/gmail/g-suite-gains-traction-in...
[+] [-] jvolkman|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mgraczyk|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] crashbunny|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] chmike|4 years ago|reply
In some case I want result relative to my location, or other info, and in other circumstances I want generic results. In some case I want result sorted by most recent first, and others I don't care or want the oldest info. In some case I want results in my mother language and others I want English results as well. Etc. etc.
My feeling is that google provides far too few search adjustment knobs and is spoon feeding me with what google thinks that would be relevant for me.
The strange thing is that all major search engine are just copying google's behavior on this aspect.
[+] [-] ArnoVW|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pbhjpbhj|4 years ago|reply
There used to be a variable "pws=0" or something that gave non-geographic, non-personalised results.
[+] [-] reportgunner|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Santosh83|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] visarga|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fooblat|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skinkestek|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] busymom0|4 years ago|reply
1. The date filter no longer seems to work. For example, if I search for "reddit dating app" and set the date filter to be "Past week" or "Past month", it still shows me results from few years ago.
2. Using quotes for exact matches often doesn't work for me either.
Is this happening for others too?
[+] [-] Apotheos|4 years ago|reply
I always search reddit for reviews and at some point, even though the result says "5 days ago" on Google, the result is actually years old when clicking through to reddit.
[+] [-] reportgunner|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] MaxikCZ|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Wolfenstein98k|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xvector|4 years ago|reply
This way you can whitelist sites per-container for persistence, while starting with a clean slate everywhere else on the web.
Adding a VPN makes fingerprinting just a bit harder, when combined with Firefox's anti-fingerprinting settings.
[+] [-] amelius|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zzzeek|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] gerash|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elif|4 years ago|reply
When I'm in Japan I can search for japanese things easily, but when i'm in america it keeps giving me american-based websites with japanese stuff. I've legit used a VPN just for searching.
[+] [-] unyttigfjelltol|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jefftk|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 1vuio0pswjnm7|4 years ago|reply
User control is not Google's main priority. Money first. Defaults matter.
One of their current CEO's main projects before he became CEO was convincing vendors to pre-install a Google search bar. This is not something that can be "turned off". Most users do not change settings, let alone even know they exist.
Because of this reality, its defaults that really matter, not options. The defaults chosen define the intent of the company.
[+] [-] kmlx|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] guscost|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] londons_explore|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tomcooks|4 years ago|reply
Mine was already off, for all it matters