How Google, Facebook & Windows 10 Records Your Personal Data-Exposed by Dylan Curran

Thanks to Dylan Curran for exposing the real face of the digital world! If you are losing your patience with Facebook data scandal, then it is not the only culprit in the digital world. Google and Windows 10 are doing the same.

Recently, Dylan Curran tweeted about how Facebook, Google and Windows 10 record your personal data:

These tech giants not only keep record of activities that you share on different forums, but also track some freaking stuff you can’t even imagine.

If you are curious to know about how your privacy is compromised, then you are at right place. This article will provide information about the ways through which Google and Facebook keep a record of your personal data.

Not only that, we will also show you how to stop these tech giants by changing privacy settings and initiating other important steps.

How Google Records Your Data

Google Maps Records Your Location

Google maps make our life very comfortable. If you are new in town and looking for any specific location, you can easily find it on Google maps. Surprisingly, Google records your history since you start using it on your smartphone.

Dylan Curran tweeted about how Google maps records his location for last 12 months. Shockingly, it also tells Dylan how long he took to reach that location and how much time he spent on that location as well.

My Activity App Records Your Search History

If you are a user of Google My Activity app, then your search histories have been recorded. Not only on your personal device, but also on all other devices you use with the same account. And if you are thinking that deleting search history from your personal device will remove it, then you are wrong.

The search history is only erased completely when you delete it from all the devices you used for the same account. Good luck remembering how many devices you used with the same account.

Google Creates Your Advertisement Profile

Do you ever think about why you see different Google ads according to your interest, gender, or hobbies? If you are thinking that Google also records your data to show those brand ads that you like, then you are absolutely right!

Google records your data from every app and extension you use to create your profile. So next time when you see ads based on your interest, you would definitely know that this is not a magic.

Google Records Your Daily Activity from Different Apps

If you are thinking that the interference of Google just stops here, then you are wrong. When you are using different apps, Google even records how often you use this particular app, to whom you are messaging, how many languages you speak, etc.

If you are thinking it is impossible, then you should see this tweet by Dylan

Google Records Your YouTube Activity

If you are a fan of YouTube, then there might be a case when you get a surprise by looking at videos recommended section. YouTube already knows what your religion is or you are going to marry soon and you want to be a mechanical engineer.

YouTube records your search history and that’s why they know when you want to listen metal or classic.

How to Download Your Overall Data History

Now, are you curious where you can find your personal data history? Google saves data about your history and all your actions, even if you accessed restricted websites. Dylan shares details about this in his tweet:

Google Takeout

From Google Takeout, you can download the history of Google drive files, contacts, emails and all of the above-discussed apps, links runs by Google, Android devices, photos captured by your smart phone, products and services you purchased through Google.

If you want to know how the download file looks and how many categories there are, you can see the following tweet shared by Dylan:

Google Calendar

We know its freaking you out! From here, you can retrieve the history of location, hangouts, your playlist, books you purchased, online groups you’re in, the smartphone you are using, the links you shared and websites you designed.

What’s the Solution?

Life without Google is impossible now! After exposing the real face of Google by Dylan, it is obvious that you are looking for some authentic solution.

The only way to make your personal data safe is through changing your Google privacy settings. So in order to change your privacy settings, follow these steps.

But before changing your privacy settings, remember to customize the following options according to your need and interest.

Steps

1. First sign in your Google account on Chrome (browser)
2. Now go to privacy checkup settings “https://myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup”
   
3. Click “Start Now” and customize your privacy settings.

Help People Connect with You

This section provides you two options to customize:

• Help people who have your number, have the option to connect and find you with Google services.
• Also help individuals to find your name, information and photos to make yourself visible on Google.

Control What Others See About You

In this section you can customize option that you want to give access or not. Google access your personal information and sharing details to services, products, apps, ads, ecommerce, and even your photos and profile.

So if you are not comfortable with it, you can unable it from here.

Personalize Your Google Exrience

From this section, you can customize the following privacy settings

• Web & App activity
• YouTube search and watch history
• Location history
• Device Information
• Voice and Audio activity

Make Ads More Relevant to You

In this last section, you can customize the settings of ads you see on Google and Google apps. So you have the option to whether allow Google to access your personal information and activities to show ads according to your interest or manually set the interest by yourself.

By setting ads manually, Google only shows ads without accessing your personal data and information.

Here is a tutorial by Dylan Curran on how to stop Google from collecting your data:

How Facebook Records Your Data

This news already created a huge impact and Facebook is facing great consequences for it. #deletefacebook movement is at its peak and the social network giant is losing users on daily basis.

However, numerous forums only tell how Facebook share user’s data to Cambridge Analytica. But very few are able to provide you that to which extend Facebook records your data.

So, what personal data is Facebook recording and is it limited to the activities on the app or is there more?

Facebook Records Your Call Log History

It is extremely frustrating for Facebook user that it not only records the activities within the app, but also records your smartphone dialer and message history as well. It even records the history of contacts that you don’t have on Facebook – meaning it accesses the contact list in your smartphone

Tweet by Dylan shows that how Facebook records your dialer history by sequence, according to which time you call that specific person, and how long you were on the call.

Facebook Records Things Based on Your Likes

The same case goes on Facebook based on your likes; it builds your profile and shows different pages and advertisement you want to see.

Not only that, it also records the discussion you are having with your friends and what groups you are looking for.

Facebook Records Stickers You Used-Strange!

It’s very strange that Facebook records your sticker history that you use while commenting on different posts or messages through the messenger.

Facebook Records Your Sign-in / Sign-out History on Each Device

Facebook also records how many times a user sign-in and sign-out, at what time, and from which device.

If you still in shock, then the following tweet by Dylan may help you:

Facebook Records Your Apps Usage History

If you are feeling lazy to make your new accounts with different apps such as Soundcloud or Clash of Clan, and you use your Facebook account to sign-in to these app, then you are in trouble.

Facebook records all the applications you have connected to your account. From this data, they find out that about your interest on whether you love football, global economics, etc.

What’s the Solution?

#deletefacebook is one solution to safe your personal data if you are ready to live without Facebook. But this is not the only solution to resolve this issue.

It is true that we can’t stop Facebook completely to record our data. Although, by taking some important steps we can limit Facebook to share and leak users personal data.

So what are these steps?

Steps

Check App & Services Settings

You will shock to see that how many apps are connected with your Facebook account over time. In order to keep your data safe, you need to clear this up by changing your setting.

Open Facebook > Go to Account Settings > Select “Apps” option > the window will appear that shows apps which are connected with your account > remove apps which you don’t use.

Limit Your Connections to Share Your Information

When your connections on Facebook, access any app or website, sometimes your data is also shared with them. This is frustrating. But you can limit this by following these instructions.

Go to Facebook Setting Option > Click the “Edit” option under Apps Option > Now unchecked the features which you don’t want to allow Facebook to share your data with different apps and website when your connection used it.

Change Facebook Apps Permission Setting on Your Smart Phone

When you install the Facebook App, it asks you to allow access for so many things on your smartphone. This is something that most of people don’t take any interest to read it.

But fortunately you can limit the access of Facebook by following these steps

Launch Facebook App on Your Smartphone > Go to Settings > Click “Permission” option > disable the features which you don’t want share.

We suggest you don’t allow permission to Facebook for accessing your contacts, microphone, SMS and telephone.

Moreover, if you are using Facebook messenger app, never turn on “Text anyone in your phone” feature and don’t add your contact number as well.

Limit the Ads on Facebook

This is something which you can’t limit totally. But you can limit it to some extend by limiting the information shared option through “Advertisers you’ve interacted with” option.

How Windows 10 Records Your Data

If you just installed Windows 10 or updated your system to latest version, then your privacy features are automatically switched on.

Even they record what type of games you are downloading, movies, your photos, etc. So in short, if you are using any digital device, these digital giants monitor you and there is no privacy at all!

Final Thoughts

This is a huge wakeup call for us! First, they make us addicted towards digital world; while on the other hand, we are assuming that we are totally safe. However, in actuality, they are controlling our lives, we become puppets to them, we see what they want us to see, we buy what they want us to buy, we change our living standards according to them.

Thanks to Dylan Curran for revealing this miserable reality to us. We hope that the Irishmen will suggest some proficient solution when he meets Google officials at Dublin.

Still, if you want to add something or have any query, feel free to contact us by mentioning your comment below.