3 On Your Side: What Does Google Know About You?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Google. It's the world's most popular search engine, allowing you to find things quickly and easily online. But how much does Google know about you? It may be more than you realize.
It tracks the websites we visit, gleans information from our emails, and even captures and stores your voice. When it comes to Google, Drexel Professor Rob D'Ovidio says, "They're tracking everything, especially if you're signed into your account." On your laptop, iPad, even your android device.
"Everything is integrated with Google now," says CBS 3 Managing Editor Steve McKenzie. His android phone is linked to his Google account. While he knew that Google stored user information, he was surprised at how precise it was, especially as it relates to tracking location. He says, "It will show you the exact place that you've been, the time you were there, and pictures if you took them there. It's kind of freaky."
"Google's tracking that with the hopes of delivering you a better, customized experience," says D'Ovidio, an expert in computer crime and digital forensics. If you can access your information, D'Ovidio says, "They can do it and anybody that gets access to that data thru some sort of malicious hacking or intrusion type of activity will also have access."
Many of us may not realize Google retains this information, but it doesn't keep it a secret. According to D'Ovidio, "Google does a great job of explaining exactly what they're capturing and it gives the user directions on how to go about deleting that information."
You can find your Google web searches, audio commands, as well as other histories, like YouTube videos that you've searched for and watched by visiting your Google history page. You can disable the storage feature by hitting pause button on in the 'managing your activity' section.
In fact D'Ovidio says, "Whether it's Google, Yahoo, Outlook, any type of online web service, go into the privacy settings, see what time of information they're capturing on you and retaining.
D'ovidio also recommends checking those settings on a regular basis for all your services, as you never know when one will change its privacy setting and leave you vulnerable.
By the way, Google captures and retains your voice if you use Google voice search. People often refer to it as "O.K Google", a feature that allows you to get directions, create reminders, and ask for things like the weather forecast.
