---------- Forwarded message ---------- If you use Google, you may want to read this Stephen HutcheonFebruary 29, 2012 - 11:39AM - Read later - Comments 72 [image: Want to clear your Google data history? (Video Thumbnail)]Click to play video How to clear your Google history Learn how to clear your Google data history with this demonstration by Tablet editor Stephen Hutcheon. - Autoplay *On*Off - Video feedback - Video settings - Opinion: *Australia absent in Google privacy feud* Today is your last chance to adjust your Google privacy settings ahead of a major change to the way Google collects and collates data about you, its users. From March 1, the company will begin to aggregate all the information it acquires about its users who are logged in to Google services into a single, unified pool of data. Advertisement: Story continues below [image: How your web history page should look after you've clicked "remove".] How your web history page should look after you've clicked "remove". This collectable information is what Columbia Law School professor and privacy advocate Eben Moglan refers to as the “data dandruff of life”. It comprises the obvious and the obscure. Details you expect to be logged as well as inferred data that is created as a result of joining the dots. In the past, data collected in the course of a web search would be kept separate from, for instance, your YouTube viewing activity, your Gmail usage or your Map queries. From Thursday, that will cease being the case. And unless you specifically scrub your Google Web History, everything that has been collected about your past search activities and the sites you clicked through to, can be scooped up and combined with information gleaned from usage on other Google-owned sites. The changes will allow Google to better target ads to users and in doing so, enable the company to extract a higher price from advertisers. This is not unusual; all web publishers are attempting to deliver more targeted advertising. But not all publishers can combine as much information as Google can. In tandem with the impending changes, Google has taken the opportunity to unify some 60 separate privacy policies into one simpler document. The company has also been up front about the coming changes and for the past few weeks has posted notices on its websites and emailed its users *explaining the changes *. However, it’s fair to assume that many users have been oblivious to the new policies either because they may be more relaxed about privacy on the internet or because they haven’t drilled down into the detail. Despite the advance warning, not everyone is comfortable about the impending changes. A *letter sent * to Google’s CEO Larry Page by a group of US state attorneys-general earlier this month characterised the move as an invasion of consumer privacy and criticised the company for failing to provide a proper ability to opt out. The US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation *points out* that disabling Web History in your Google account will not prevent Google from gathering and storing this information. But it does mean the information will be partially anonymised after 18 months and that Google will abstain from using it for certain purposes. Many people are comfortable with a lowering of the privacy bar that has come about in recent years as a result of the advent social networking sites such as MySpace and then Facebook. However, if you’re not one of those, here’s how you can quarantine your Google Search History from the new data aggregation process. - Go to the *Google History page * and sign in. - If your Web History has been activated, you should see a button which says: “Remove All Web History”. Then click “Okay” to confirm. - (If you only see: "Turn Web History On" - then you don't need to do anything.) - When this is done you will see a “Resume” button, which you can click if at any time in the future you change your mind. ad preferernceIf you want even more control, you can also try these additional tools: - *Google Dashboard* : A place where you can control the data associated with your Google Account. - *Ads Preferences Manager* : A place where you can make changes to the ads you see, including blocking specific advertisers or opting-out of seeing personalised ads completely. - *Eject button:* And if you're still not satisfied and want to opt out altogether, Google provides a one stop shop to opt out of everything and take your "data dandruff" with you. 72 comments so far - George Orwell's surveillance state is truly here. What is the NBN for if not mass surveillance. You Tube is changing its privacy policies too. Bye Bye anonymous sharing of information. Hello secret, corporate/government/military scrutiny. Sedition anyone? CommenterDavid LocationRepton Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 7:53AM - @David ... got something to hide? CommenterCam LocationMelbs Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 10:29AM - We have none other than our selves to blame for this happening old friend. It has started long ago that we surrendered our right of privacy first and our freedoms gradually in the name of better 'service' and 'security' and whatever other lame reason they offered. The most of us are just too lazy to bother i.e do their civic duties and be informed and responsible and resist, others, your ordinary idiots and morons, have fallen into the "if you've done nothing wrong, you got nothing to hide" 'fallacy' and I'm sure David you seen their demented chants in response to these kind of topics. I you ask me we've already lost and our kids think you're a weirdo if you don't publish your life on facebook. Good night and good luck. CommenterVBSippingProletarian LocationDate and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 10:44AM - @Cam, the 'Nothing to hide, nothing to fear' approach is simplistic and devisive. Becasue, eventually somethings come down to value judgement, the planning of an uprising for instance... CommenterYep LocationSydney Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 10:53AM - @ Cam, no mate this is not about privacy in regards to whether someone finds out you're secret desires, this is about overall privacy and this is a greater more important issue than this article really relates. To get a better perspective, it really is worth your 10 minutes of time to see how truly OFF these filters and bubbles are.. Its not about what you do, its about what your 'allowed' to see ! Watch this youtube video of a TED talk that explains it very very well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s CommenterRooBoy LocationDate and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 11:21AM - Brilliant and very original contribution Cam, Bravo! CommenterVBSippingProletarian LocationDate and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 11:23AM - People take this far too seriously. Our cyber laws may be lacking but there are many methods of redress to issues of privacy with the most effective one being - shock horror -don't use the site.Google isn't the only search enginge out there, it's simply the most well known. CommenterNathan LocationWollongong Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 11:46AM - NSN is not mass surveillance any more than telephones are. NBN is just a network. CommenterMeanwhile Locationin the real world Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 11:54AM - @Cam - please understand that having something to hide is not the issue. You are giving them information about you that they don't have any right to. Just because you have nothing to hide doesn't mean that Google, Facebook or any other company should be granted this power. German Jews thought they had nothing to hide but Hitler used census information to round them up. I'm not comparing Google to Hitler, just showing how "nothing to hide" can get you into trouble. The more people or companies that have data like this, the higher the chances of it being used against you one day. CommenterJeff_M LocationSydney Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 12:11PM - what about those who bought Android devices? We can only continue to use them fully if we agree to these new terms? Where's the opt-out!!! CommenterAl LocationWollongong Date and timeFebruary 29, 2012, 12:30PM More comments Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/if-you-use-google-you-may-want-to-read-this-20120229-1u1i9.html#ixzz1njqiY5Io . http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/if-you-use-google-you-may-want-to-read-this-20120229-1u1i9.html _______________________________________________ You are receiving this message because you are subscribed to the Development mailing list. To unsubscribe from this list send an email to