Is your data privacy really important?

A few years back, we were chatting among friends on Whatsapp about going to Kerala. The next day, I get an ad on FaceBook for booking hotels in Kerala. Was I surprised? Not much, being in IT and all.

Now, that is clearly targeted marketing. Some people may be ok with it. Some people may not be.

My last post evoked some questions regarding what data privacy really is.

Let us say, you have willingly or unwillingly disclosed some of your data to some organization ABC (say Google or Apple or Meta, etc.) like your name, phone number, date of birth, address, etc.

Data privacy: ABC should adhere to prevailing data protection regulations and focus on how data is collected, shared, archived, and deleted.

Data security: ABC should ensure that only people with appropriate authority & access rights can see your data, within and outside ABC.

Let us look at what data we are exposing about ourselves regularly. We will choose only one platform now — Google — which has been open about it. The main things tracked about you by Google are your contact information, location history, search history, and browsing history.

Oh, who cares where all I have been? Should I be even concerned? That’s up to you.

With Google, you can go to https://myaccount.google.com/?nlr=1 and see for yourself the information you have willingly opened up to Google. Check the ‘Data and Privacy’ option.

“Things you have done and places you have been” — shows your web & app activity, location history & youtube history, whether you want personalized ads or not, etc.

“Info you can share with others” — what information Google might share with other vendors about you.

“Data from apps and services you use” — a summary of your services & data and the apps to which you have given access to your data.

Oh, did you not realize that your Android phones and mobile apps will be sharing so much of your data with Google? Isn’t that naive of us?

The good news is that most of your data with Google can be made private (i.e.) not shareable with anyone by clicking on the particular settings and changing it. Of course, you also lose some of your conveniences like not being able to see your last location on Google Maps, your next dress or book recommendation when you shop, etc.

You can decide what you want Google to know:

- Where all you went?

- What websites do you browse?

- What videos do you watch?

- What products do you look up online or shop?

- What your political likes & dislikes are, based on your searches?

Of course, they will sell this information to other vendors. But at least some choice is with us. So, be informed & choose wisely!

#Google #DataPrivacy #PersonalData #DataSecurity #DataSharing #Marketing #History #Personalization