We are all living in a “Big Brother” world where someone somewhere monitors every footprint you left online.
The Internet is so huge with a massive amount of data. In fact, the internet is a world of uncountable data. But despite the humungous data, there are people out there monitoring every movement you make online.
But for what purpose are they monitoring you? Do you know what they have on you and what they are using the data for?
Why are they monitoring your online activities?
So, who is monitoring you and why are they doing so? The fact is that internet users are being monitored for so many reasons. The government monitors the internet usage patterns to get necessary data for decision making and to improve the infrastructures.
Also, various security agencies are monitoring the Internet to spot and prevent future security threats. However, the biggest internet “Big Brothers” are the corporate companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook and other advertising companies.
These corporate advertising giants want to know how people are using the internet in order to serve them “resourceful” adverts. Google is the world’s biggest data collection corporate company and it claims it’s for improving user experiences.
Clever ways to trace your online activities with Google
So many advertising companies largely depend on the internet user data in order to be able to serve better adverts. Google and Facebook have mentioned this severally to gain public trust as per the collection of their data. But do you really know the kind of information and data these companies have about you? Below are 5 clever ways to trace your online activities through Google:
#1]. Control and review what Google knows about you
As previously mentioned above, Google collects data about you for marketing purpose. Brands that are using Google to marketing their businesses are interested in targeting the right audience. For Google to be able to achieve this, it needs to collect your data so as to be able to serve your “relevant” ads. However, you can control and review the information Google has on you via the links @ http://www.google.com/settings/ads/.
#2]. Find out your location history
For those users on Google’s Android-powered devices such as smartphones and tablets, Google may also have access to your location. This is somehow important to Google so as to be able to serve you local content and ads. For instance, if you travel from one city to another, Google may collect your location data to serve you local adverts. However, you can see your entire location history @ https://maps.google.com/locationhistory
#3]. Check out your entire Google Search history
The giant internet company also keeps data of every search you have had on its search engine. Google also keeps a record of every Google AdSense ad you have clicked on. However, you have to be already signed into your Google account for this functionality to work. You can check out your entire Google web history @ https://www.google.com/history/
#4]. Want to know which apps have access to your data?
Most of the Android-powered smartphone users don’t realise that some applications on their mobile phones have access to their data. Some of these apps need to have access to your data in order to function properly. However, some apps are using your data to serve you ads. Now you can find out all the apps and extensions that are accessing your Google data. You can also see the exact type of permissions the apps have and revoke access to your data @ https://security.google.com/settings/security/permissions
#5]. Want to get security reports or export your data?
Do you know that there is a page on Google where you can access your account activity? This page also tells you about all the Google services you are using and how often you use them. For privacy and security conscious Google users, you can enable a monthly report that will be sent to your email @ https://www.google.com/settings/dashboard. You can also export all your data on Google @ https://www.google.com/takeout
Wow! Thank you! I continuously needed to write on my blog something like that. Can I include a portion of your post to my website?