Google is spying on you if you use Chrome

[AJSully421]

Listen in to my house all you like... you are going to hear screaming kids and the Lion King about 2-3 times per day with Finding Nemo or The Rescuers Down Under tossed in somewhere.

Some NSA guy would splatter his brains on the desk if he had to listen in at my house...

[mojo84]

If one would like to circumvent the Google search logging, you may want to look into this search service.

https://startpage.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I use it for certain things and particular topics that I do not want logged. However, I accept that privacy today is not what privacy was yesteryear. Each person has to make their own mind up how much time and energy they will expend as a result of their cynicism, distrust and disdain. Everyone's limit is their own choice and decision.

[mojo84]

Listen in to my house all you like... you are going to hear screaming kids and the Lion King about 2-3 times per day with Finding Nemo or The Rescuers Down Under tossed in somewhere.

Some NSA guy would splatter his brains on the desk if he had to listen in at my house...

No thank you. I've lived through that stage already. Twice was enough for me. I will not be invading your privacy through your computer any time soon.

[VMI77]

If one would like to circumvent the Google search logging, you may want to look into this search service.

https://startpage.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


I use it for certain things and particular topics that I do not want logged. However, I accept that privacy today is not what privacy was yesteryear. Each person has to make their own mind up how much time and energy they will expend as a result of their cynicism, distrust and disdain. Everyone's limit is their own choice and decision.

That's the same as ixquick.....it's the new name since they started advertising with the radio commentator....can't think of her name right now, but listen to her show whenever I'm in Austin....I think she broadcasts out of New Hampshire.

[VMI77]

Listen in to my house all you like... you are going to hear screaming kids and the Lion King about 2-3 times per day with Finding Nemo or The Rescuers Down Under tossed in somewhere.

Some NSA guy would splatter his brains on the desk if he had to listen in at my house...

OK, good for you...even when our kids were little my wife and I had private conversations and intimate relations we preferred to keep private. I hope you're not as indifferent to your 2nd Amendment rights as you are to your rights under the 4th.

[cb1000rider]

So, VM.. I get that this is concerning and agree with you. But for the sake of discussion, let's flip it around for a minute:

Give me a basic design for a piece of software that does the following:
1) Voice recognition and acts on commands.
2) The software must be maintainable. That is one software for both PC and tablet devices.
3) The software must be easily update-able and we need to be able to dynamically adjust the voice recognition algorithm in real time.
4) It needs to be easily deployed and require minimal (if any) user intervention to use and update.

My guess is if you built something following those requirements, it'd end up looking like what Google built.

That's not to say that it can't be used for evil. I'm just saying that it's existence doesn't necessarily mean it was intended for use that way.

One day I may end up off-grid with no technology. I'm not wealthy enough to afford that option yet.

Note, I'm not saying that I inherently trust Google and certainly don't trust the government, but an indication that Google is actively "spying" based on the data presented, I don't buy that at all.

[mojo84]

Listen in to my house all you like... you are going to hear screaming kids and the Lion King about 2-3 times per day with Finding Nemo or The Rescuers Down Under tossed in somewhere.

Some NSA guy would splatter his brains on the desk if he had to listen in at my house...

OK, good for you...even when our kids were little my wife and I had private conversations and intimate relations we preferred to keep private. I hope you're not as indifferent to your 2nd Amendment rights as you are to your rights under the 4th.

I'm pretty confident this was intended as humor.

[VMI77]

an indication that Google is actively "spying" based on the data presented, I don't buy that at all.

However exaggerated the article may be I didn't interpret it as saying that either...only that Google provided an app without full disclosure and that the app has the potential to be used for nefarious purposes...at least that was my take. The thing is, we're now inundated with reasons not to trust corporations or government. I don't trust either. Fortunately corporations don't yet have the power to kill or cage me (who knows under TPP ) so I'm not as concerned about what they do as I am about what the government does. I am concerned about the government using corporations as proxies to end run the Constitution.

The reality is we now live in a surveillance state....probably about the best I can do in defense is make the surveillance as irrelevant as possible.

[VMI77]

Listen in to my house all you like... you are going to hear screaming kids and the Lion King about 2-3 times per day with Finding Nemo or The Rescuers Down Under tossed in somewhere.

Some NSA guy would splatter his brains on the desk if he had to listen in at my house...

OK, good for you...even when our kids were little my wife and I had private conversations and intimate relations we preferred to keep private. I hope you're not as indifferent to your 2nd Amendment rights as you are to your rights under the 4th.

I'm pretty confident this was intended as humor.

That's certainly possible, and I noted you took it that way in your previous response, however, you see the same basic comment about government surveillance from many people who are serious so it's hard to tell on the internet.

[cb1000rider]

That's a reasonable take, VM...

There are upsides to living in a surveillance state. It's not always the "people" that get caught in the surveillance.. Sometimes it's the government.

[The Annoyed Man]

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

[cb1000rider]

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Isn't that the one that was originally developed by the government to allow communication in oppressed 3rd world nations? You know, the one that helped spawn the dark net (basically, the "secret" internet for those that are technically inclined)...
The secret internet that was essentially a black market free economy - buy anything... drugs, weapons, whatever...

[VMI77]

https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en

Tor may provide some protection under normal circumstances, maybe even quite a bit, but none if you're targeted by the Feds.

[92f-fan]

Overwhelming paranoia ...

My best recommendation is to go outside and find the TXU power meter and simply unplug it .. That will resolve 90% or so of the electronic snooping issues in your house... Then in a few hours when your alarm battery and your cell phone battery die, a few more % increase. Once thats done be sure to pull the battery from your cars and lawn tractors... That will leave the batteries in the remotes, the batteries in the smoke detectors and the hidden devices that the NSA has implanted in most of our houses...

Seriously...

I dont have a microphone on my desktop so its not a concern for me. On my laptop I could if it bothered me, I would mute the microphone or disable it ...

Chrome is my go to browser and I appreciate the innovation that Google is bringing to the Web.
Thankfully Costco sells 10lb industrial rolls of foil... I need add a layer to my hat....