Never-Googlers: Web users take the ultimate step to guard their data
Never-Googlers: Web users take the
ultimate step to guard their data
Greg Bensinger, The
Washington Post 10:04 am EDT, Tuesday, July 23, 2019
If you want to shut down or limit what Google collects from your
phone, here are the places to check. Understanding the full extent of Google's
collection requires deeper digging through settings, not only on your phone but also on your Google account.
SAN FRANCISCO - In the small South Carolina town
of Newberry, Bob's Red Mill muesli cereal is hard to come by.
That presents a challenge for resident Gregory
Kelly, who can't get enough of the stuff. He'd rather not truck the 40 miles or
so to Columbia to stock up on it, but he's also loath to buy it from the
company's website, which he says is riddled with tracking software from Google.
His privacy being paramount, Kelly grudgingly
chooses to head into Columbia every so often, rather than cede his data to
Google or turn over his purchase history to another online retailer. "I'm
just not sure why Google needs to know what breakfast cereal I eat," the
51-year-old said.
Kelly is one of a hearty few who are taking the
ultimate step to keep their files and online life safe from prying eyes:
turning off Google entirely. That means eschewing some of the most popular
services on the Web, including Gmail, Google search, Google Maps, the Chrome
browser, Android mobile operating software and even YouTube.
Such never-Googlers are pushing friends and
family to give up the search and advertising titan, while others are taking to
social media to get word out. Online guides have sprouted up to help consumers
untangle themselves from Google.
These intrepid Web users say they'd rather deal
with daily inconveniences than give up more of their data. That means setting
up permanent vacation responders on Gmail and telling friends to resend files
or video links that don't require Google software. More than that, it takes a
lot of discipline.
People like Kelly are trying to build barriers
to Google and other tech giants largely due to increasing concerns about the
massive data collection. A series of privacy scandals showing how these
companies collect and use consumer data has raised alarm bells for many people
about how much they've traded for customization and targeted ads. For example,
a Washington Post investigation last month found more than 11,000 requests for
tracking cookies in just one week of Web use on Google's Chrome browser.
As a result, more consumers are taking measures
to wrest greater control of their personal data, like deleting Facebook and its
photo-sharing app Instagram. About 15 percent of U.S. households' primary
shoppers never shop on Amazon, according to Kantar ShopperScape data. Some
Amazon Echo and Google voice-activated speakers have landed in the trash. And
some consumers are saving photos and other personal documents to external hard
drives, rather than on Google or Apple's clouds.
Brands are jumping on the trend, advertising
what they say are superior privacy controls. At the CES 2019 tech conference
earlier this year, Apple promised in a billboard above Las Vegas that
"What Happens on Your iPhone, Stays on Your iPhone," though many apps
siphon data from the phones and track users. And DuckDuckGo, a privacy-oriented
search engine, said daily average searches have grown to 42.4 million, from
23.5 million a year earlier - although still a fraction of Google's.
Over the past few months, Jim Lantz, of Spokane,
Washington, has been systematically eliminating Google products from his online
life, spurred by reports of how the Silicon Valley company collects and
distributes customer data. That's included scanning lengthy privacy agreements
and researching websites' legal statements. "It's quite the challenge
figuring out what they own," said the wholesale sales manager.
"I don't want to give up every ounce of
myself over to Google," he said. "At least I can make it hard for
them."
Google in May unveiled new features it said
would help users protect more of their data, including storing more of it on
personal devices, rather than in cloud computing centers, and giving people
more control over how and when tracking software, or cookies, is deployed. And
the Web search giant is offering ways to permanently erase data, including
search and location history.
No data on how many consumers may be phasing out
Google is readily available, and the company didn't provide figures on how many
have deleted its apps. "We want to help people understand and control
their data, even if they want to leave Google," said spokesman Aaron
Stein. He pointed to Google's service allowing consumers to download
information stored with the company for their use elsewhere.
Joshua Greenbaum, of Berkeley, Calif., said he
pays about $100 per year to use Microsoft Office 365 software that he says has
better privacy protections than Google's. "I am giving up more than I am
getting" from Google, said the 61-year tech consultant who started scaling
back his Google usage a couple years ago when advertisements began appearing in
his Gmail account.
"With Gmail they get your email, with
Android real-time location and app usage, with Maps more location data, with
Google Wallet that can see into your finances, with Google Docs your personal
and work history, Chrome gives your online history, your location,"
Greenbaum said. "I started asking myself what other data could they get
to."
All that consumer data is precisely the reason
Google may be in the crosshairs of the Justice Department, which earlier this
year took initial steps toward a potential antitrust investigation, The Post
reported. The House is preparing its own probe of Google and Facebook amid
comments from President Donald Trump that the government should be
"suing" them.
Users say that it's difficult to eliminate using
Google completely. Greenbaum still maintains a Gmail account "for
spam" he said, and finds that YouTube is all but unavoidable if he wants
to watch videos online.
For him, "the improvement is mostly in the
category of self-righteousness," he said.
Not so for Janet Vertesi, a Princeton University
sociology professor, who in her private life has avoided Google since 2012. She
said it's a matter of being able to control her own data, which Google
automatically shares across its many properties. Data collected in Gmail, for
instance, is supplied to the mapping software, whether a consumer uses Google
Maps or not.
"I want to know where my data goes,"
Vertesi said. That sometimes involves asking people to turn off their voice
assistants in their homes or re-sending documents in a format other than Google
Docs, she said.
Tech firms like Google say the data helps drive
more personal advertisements, which are beneficial to consumers, and underwrite
products that would otherwise not be free, like email and photo storage
programs.
But there's some evidence that so closely
tracking people's online behavior may not provide the boost that tech companies
tout. A recent study by academics from three U.S. universities who observed
millions of transactions at a large media company over the course of a week
found that such behavioral targeting only amounts to 4 percent more revenue
than when tracking is not enabled through online "cookies," software
that records browsing activity. That suggests that companies like Google and
Facebook could easily absorb the lost revenue if they were less meticulous
about tracking consumers.
Some lawmakers and Google's competitors have
expressed concern that the search giant can unfairly control ad pricing and
other online activity because of its outsize market share. The European
Commission this year fined Google about $1.7 billion over allegations that the
company thwarted rivals from working with other companies that had deals with
Google.
Data analyst Peter Rowell, 64, pays $8 monthly
for a private Web network, known as a VPN, which helps cloak a user's online
identity. He said he worries private information about what he does online
could end up spread far across the Web. "Google's got enough of my
information," said the Stewartstown, Pa., resident, noting he has deleted
the company's apps from his iPhone and switched to Web surfing on DuckDuckGo
and Mozilla as his browser.
Still, some academics say that efforts to
abandon use of Google - or Amazon and Microsoft, for that matter - are nearly
impossible. Those companies all have cloud services businesses, or essentially
data centers that other companies can rent, and they power most websites, as
well as other consumer services. For example, Amazon's Web services business
enables Netflix, while Google helps power Snapchat and Target.
Quitting Google is a major undertaking that may
not be possible, said Jonathan Mayer, an assistant professor of computer
science at Princeton University.
"The reality is, you're going to use these
services whether intentionally or not," he said. "It is exceedingly
hard to control the data flows of these companies."
Not everyone is avoiding Google just to protect
their data. Amy Manlapas, a high school teacher in Atlanta, said the company's
recent failure to more strongly condemn a conservative YouTube personality for
repeatedly mocking a gay reporter caused her to stop using the video sharing
site. She said she is researching document-storing software for her files so
that she can drop Google Docs, and plans to eliminate her use of Gmail and
other Google services.
"I don't want to give my time and money to
a company that's not going to be conscious of diversity," she said.
"It's hard work being ethical."
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