How Google, Facebook & Windows 10 Records Your Personal Data-Exposed by Dylan Curran
- Salman Ahmed
- March 30th, 2018
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:
Want to freak yourself out? I'm gonna show just how much of your information the likes of Facebook and Google store about you without you even realising it
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
2. This is every place I have been in the last twelve months in Ireland, going in so far as the time of day I was in the location and how long it took me to get to that location from my previous one pic.twitter.com/I1kB1vwntT
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
3. https://t.co/qFCgY6QLN5 Google stores search history across all your devices on a separate database, so even if you delete your search history and phone history, Google STILL stores everything until you go in and delete everything, and you have to do this on all devices
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
4. https://t.co/QRfgwkNj80 Google creates an advertisement profile based on your information, including your location, gender, age, hobbies, career, interests, relationship status, possible weight (need to lose 10lbs in one day?) and income
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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
5. Google stores information on every app and extension you use, how often you use them, where you use them, and who you use them to interact with (who do you talk to on facebook, what countries are you speaking with, what time you go to sleep at) https://t.co/RJeRlXhtdq
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
6. https://t.co/5B6qxUvrJz Google stores ALL of your YouTube history, so they know whether you're going to be a parent soon, if you're a conservative, if you're a progressive, if you're Jewish, Christian, or Muslim, if you're feeling depressed or suicidal, if you're anorexic…
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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:
21. Here's the search history document, which has 90,000 different entries, even showing the images I downloaded and the websites I accessed (I showed ThePirateBay section to show much damage this information can do) pic.twitter.com/rZJhJjSe2t
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
8. https://t.co/3Na4FxjNXk This link includes your bookmarks, emails, contacts, your Google Drive files, all of the above information, your YouTube videos, the photos you've taken on your phone, the businesses you've bought from, the products you've bought through Google…
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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:
20. I got the Google Takeout document with all my information, and this is a breakdown of all the different ways they get your information pic.twitter.com/mPAbyh1I9k
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
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.
9. Your calendar, your Google hangout sessions, your location history, the music you listen to, the Google books you've purchased, the Google groups you're in, the websites you've created, the phones you've owned, the pages you've shared, how many steps you walk in a day…
— Dylan Curran (@iamdylancurran) March 24, 2018
22. Here's my Google