Google getting a little heavy handed?

[Bill Jobe]

Google made me turn on location before I could use it.
What's that all about?

[Matt Day]

Clarify what you mean by “google”. Mobile? Desktop? Maps app?

[Bill Jobe]

Chrome on Android 5
Would not allow me access to the net unless I turned on location.

[Dave Zellers]

Will Chrome allow you to choose a different search engine?

I recommend Duck Duck Go.

[Bill Jobe]

I'll try it and see.

[Rollie Meyers]

Chrome and Android are Google, best to avoid any google product.

[Bill Jobe]

Well that puts a lot of people on the fast track to lose all personal privacy.
My son switched to an Iphone in recent years and still struggles to merge that with his entire business that's windows based.
If I'm not assuming too much, a lot of those insiders who know are fearful of China's involvement in 5G.

Having said all that, I went on a road trip yesterday, taking me 200 miles or so away.
Perhaps they are just covering my back by having me turn on location to verify that my phone was not stolen. It just did it once when I logged on after returning home.

[Jim Becker]

My son switched to an Iphone in recent years and still struggles to merge that with his entire business that's windows based.

That kinda makes no sense. While it's true that there is more seamless integration between MacOS and iOS (which I fully leverage these days), I've never had any issues or challenges with iOS devices and Windows based computers and applications nor did thousands of my co-workers who carried iOS mobile devices and used Windows on the desktop. Even Office is pretty transparent between them. Theoretically, there should be the same benefits/challenges between a Windows based business and both Android and iOS on mobile applications since neither are Windows and Microsoft bagged "mobile Windows" for good awhile ago.

[Clark Hussey]

I’m in full agreement with Jim. Have never had a problem.


That kinda makes no sense. While it's true that there is more seamless integration between MacOS and iOS (which I fully leverage these days), I've never had any issues or challenges with iOS devices and Windows based computers and applications nor did thousands of my co-workers who carried iOS mobile devices and used Windows on the desktop. Even Office is pretty transparent between them. Theoretically, there should be the same benefits/challenges between a Windows based business and both Android and iOS on mobile applications since neither are Windows and Microsoft bagged "mobile Windows" for good awhile ago.

[Izzy Camire]

Will Chrome allow you to choose a different search engine?

I recommend Duck Duck Go.

I also use Duckduckgo and like it.

[Bill Jobe]

I also use Duckduckgo and like it.

Do I get there from google?
I tried Samsung's Internet but it uses google.
I'm a bit weak in technology, and I've
never (knowingly) used anything but Google.

[Matt Day]

Chrome and Android are Google, best to avoid any google product.

Why?

———-

[Jim Koepke]

Why?

———-

Because just like everyone else on the internet they build a data base of users to sell to anyone who wants to pinpoint targets for their advertising and other uses.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Do I get there from google?
I tried Samsung's Internet but it uses google.
I'm a bit weak in technology, and I've
never (knowingly) used anything but Google.

Type www.duckduckgo.com into your browser's eddress line, hit return. As an alternative, you should be able to click on it in the previous sentence.

jtk

[Kev Williams]

in firefox at least- Tools/Options, then 'search' on the left-- a little ways to the right and down is a dropdown which is likely defaulted to Google- drop it down and select DDgo or any other, and it will be your default. For temp use, if you have a 'search' window with a magnifying glass, click on the glass and it'll drop down to reveal other search engines to use temporarily..

That said, I like Duck Duck Go for it's privacy features. But as a search engine, it's (a) lame (duck) ...

[Matt Day]

Because just like everyone else on the internet they build a data base of users to sell to anyone who wants to pinpoint targets for their advertising and other uses.

jtk

Good luck getting away from that though!

[Dave Zellers]

Good luck getting away from that though!

That is DDGo's mission however. They don't even record your data, so there is nothing to be sold to anyone.

[Frank Pratt]

Because just like everyone else on the internet they build a data base of users to sell to anyone who wants to pinpoint targets for their advertising and other uses.

jtk

I'd rather be seeing ads that might be interesting or informative to me. Advertising is what drives 'free' content & I don't see that as a bad thing.

[Dave Zellers]

I'd rather be seeing ads that might be interesting or informative to me. Advertising is what drives 'free' content & I don't see that as a bad thing.

That is the point. Everyone deserves a choice.

Kev is correct. Google is a more capable search engine. It's impossible to argue against that. But you might only need that kind of precision if you are a business. As a common user, I find DuckDuckGo serves me just fine. And I have chosen to embrace the privacy that comes with that.

And given that SMC uses Google as their search engine, I will guarantee you that statement now exists on Google's servers. FOR. EVER.

[Kev Williams]

My problem with the tracking and free advertising: If I'm looking to buy a gift for the wife (for example), every single thing I clicked on in my search becomes an advertisement that shows up on every phone and computer in the house. And everyone else's phone that comes in the house and hits my wifi. If I'm surprise gift shopping, the TOR browser and DDgo is the only way the to keep it a surprise. And even then, all you can do is LOOK, you can't BUY, because your apparent IP address won't match your actual address...

[Dave Zellers]

So don't track the IP address, but track the device? (from Googles perspective).

How about don't track anything.

It's incredibly stupid how often I buy something and then have to put up with weeks of offers to buy it again.

[Jim Koepke]

I'd rather be seeing ads that might be interesting or informative to me. Advertising is what drives 'free' content & I don't see that as a bad thing.


My problem with the tracking and free advertising: If I'm looking to buy a gift for the wife (for example), every single thing I clicked on in my search becomes an advertisement that shows up on every phone and computer in the house. And everyone else's phone that comes in the house and hits my wifi. If I'm surprise gift shopping, the TOR browser and DDgo is the only way the to keep it a surprise. And even then, all you can do is LOOK, you can't BUY, because your apparent IP address won't match your actual address...


[edited]

It's incredibly stupid how often I buy something and then have to put up with weeks of offers to buy it again.

Well Frank, many of the ads are kind of interesting. As Kev says, what gets bought online shows up as advertising. As Dave says, they keep trying to sell people what they already bought.

My wife does most of the online buying. Swimsuits, underwear and other such stuff. It is kind of embarrassing reading the funnies in the morning after she has been on a shopping spree.

jtk

[Dave Zellers]

So, perhaps, most would agree, 20ish years in, the internet is stupid.

What frightens me, is down the road, when it's not stupid.

Now is the time to put the reins on.

[Curt Harms]

So, perhaps, most would agree, 20ish years in, the internet is stupid.

What frightens me, is down the road, when it's not stupid.

Now is the time to put the reins on.

I think the internet is neither smart nor stupid. The uses to which people put it on the other hand ........

For search engine, have a look at Startpage. I tried DuckDuckGo and prefer Startpage. I also use the Noscript add-on, available only for Firefox AFAIK. Nearly every web site has google scripts running on it. Hmmm I wonder how Google knows what web sites I've visited and what I looked at? Noscript is a pain to set up initially but once it know what to permit to run and what not to permit, it's pretty transparent.

[Frank Pratt]

My problem with the tracking and free advertising: If I'm looking to buy a gift for the wife (for example), every single thing I clicked on in my search becomes an advertisement that shows up on every phone and computer in the house. And everyone else's phone that comes in the house and hits my wifi. If I'm surprise gift shopping, the TOR browser and DDgo is the only way the to keep it a surprise. And even then, all you can do is LOOK, you can't BUY, because your apparent IP address won't match your actual address...

For searching that I want to keep private, I use Incognito Mode in Chrome. Search history is not kept.

[Brian Tymchak]

For searching that I want to keep private, I use Incognito Mode in Chrome. Search history is not kept.

From Google support, what really happens with Chrome Incognito. Bottom line, only local history, cookies, etc are dumped.

What happens when you browse privately



Chrome won't save your browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered in forms.
Files you download and bookmarks you create will be kept.
Your activity isn’t hidden from websites you visit, your employer or school, or your internet service provider.

[Frank Pratt]

From Google support, what really happens with Chrome Incognito. Bottom line, only local history, cookies, etc are dumped.

What happens when you browse privately



Chrome won't save your browsing history, cookies and site data, or information entered in forms.
Files you download and bookmarks you create will be kept.
Your activity isn’t hidden from websites you visit, your employer or school, or your internet service provider.



And I don't care about that. What I care about is if I'm shopping for a gift I don't want family members to see what I've been searching. Incognito takes care of that nicely.

[Rollie Meyers]

Why?

———-
Google tracks you, and stores whatever data about you they can find, they have been smoozing with government spy agencies so I consider them evil, so I use www.duckduckgo.com , or www.startpage.com , while Apple is no angel, I'll take them over any google product.

[Bert Kemp]

Google tracks you, and stores whatever data about you they can find, they have been smoozing with government spy agencies so I consider them evil, so I use www.duckduckgo.com (http://www.duckduckgo.com) , or www.startpage.com (http://www.startpage.com) , while Apple is no angel, I'll take them over any google product.

ust turn off GPS on the phone and no tracking easy.
j

[Lee Schierer]

ust turn off GPS on the phone and no tracking easy.
j

You do that at your own peril. If you lose your device, there is no way to turn it on remotely so you can find it. Despite what you see people on television doing to track people.