Ducks in a Row: Deleting Your Google History
by Miki Saxon
How would you feel if someone constantly followed you and then shared that info with friends?
Would it bother you more if the info was sold for cash?
Would you report your stalkers? Or at least find a way to stop them?
Essentially, that’s what Google does.
It follows you on your jaunts around your cyber-world and both shares and sells that info.
Remembered the last time you surfed around looking for a particular product and then found ads for the same thing on every page you looked at for months afterwards?
What many of us consider commercial stalking Google and others call “improving the user experience.”
For decades, our Congress, in its infinite wisdom, has pooh-poohed the idea of any kind of privacy policy, such as Europe has, saying it would hamper growth.
My solution is using the DuckDuckGo search engine that doesn’t track you, or for total anonymity I use ixquick.
But what can you do if you’re addicted to Google and have been using it for years?
You can say thanks to Business Insider and use the step-by-step, illustrated instructions for deleting your history preventing continuing surveillance that they recently provided.
The funny thing is that what most people want is choice, i.e., the ability to easily opt out when a search is extremely sensitive — by their definition, not a third party’s.
And, at the end, since it’s all about money, perhaps if enough people opt out Google will change its approach and give you a simple way to decide who is privy to what in your own little corner of cyberspace.
Or, an even more heretical idea, pay you for it use.
Image credit: E Photos and Business Insider
