What Data Google and Other Search Engines Collect about You and How to Prevent Them from Doing It

A search engine is a special programme that helps users find answers to their request on the internet. To provide relevant results, search engines analyse the user’s behaviour and recent requests. By the way, such data are also regarded as personal.

“All search engines try to collect as much data as possible to provide relevant search result,” said Vladimir Ozhereliev, chief of personal data protection practice, Digital Rights Center Qazaqstan. The amount of this data is rather huge.

In short, here is what search engines know about you: the request history; behaviour on the search page – where you clicked on, what data you looked at, which elements of the search engine you have interacted with; information on location of IP address to provide geolocation-based results; information about your device – whether a smartphone or a PC browser. Search engines know even the display resolution, browser and operating system version.

This data is generally used to provide relevant advertising to the user. For example, the Google Display Network (all resources where the search engine-based advertising can appear) can determine the sex, age, marital status, hobbies and even the approximate financial standing of the user. This information is a gold mine for advertisers, who are interested in having, say, the baby food reach out to young parents instead of teenagers playing online games.

You can check out what it knows about you in the Google’s My Ad Centre, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

It may seem that there is nothing to be afraid of, especially if you believe that no one is interested in you. But, according to Vladimir Ozhereliev, based on the history of search requests of a user for one month one can tell what the person is, their interests, where they live and draw up a full psychological portrait. The risk is that hackers can obtain this information. Vladimir made an example. Hackers learn from the search requests that a person is selling an apartment and they know that he/she will have a substantial amount of money now. They can easily use this information with a mercenary motive.

“Search engines protect data quite reliably because information about users is their main asset,” Vladimir said. “Despite the fact that major companies are interested in their information security, there is still a human factor, and losses happen occasionally https://cabar.asia/ru/kak-izbezhat-utechki-personalnyh-dannyh-i-chto-delat-esli-eto-vse-taki-proizoshlo. And there are laws that protect personal data. In Kazakhstan, it is the law “On informatization” and law “On personal data and its protection”.

According to Vladimir Ozhereliev, the most reliable way is to use secure browsers (e.g. DuckDuckGo). They do not keep the history of search requests and minimise all the information they collect about their users. But even they will not protect you 100 per cent as such browsers do not hide the user’s IP address. Another drawback is they are not very comfortable, as they do not optimise results for a given user.

Create a separate account and use a complex and safe password. Check what search engines know about you. You can click the button ‘upload information about me’ both in Google and in Yandex (in Google, it is called Google Takeout).

When you see a big banner ad from the browser’s advertising system, try tapping the X button and choose the option “Do not allow tracking” so that the advertising system does not collect data about you. Use VPN, which is one of the most reliable ways.

“But you should be safe here, as well,” Vladimir said. “VPN does increase security because the website you visit using VPN does not see your real IP address. Moreover, all the data that the user sends and receives get encoded. However, VPN itself can store your data and transmit it, so it is better to use reliable and paid services.”

It simulates anonymity rather than provides it. During the incognito session, the browser does not keep the search history, does not show personalised ads, does not keep logins and passwords, does not collect cookies. But it still keeps the master data set.

For example, the incognito mode does not hide the user’s location, and websites visited by the user still can learn the browser’s model, operating system, display parameters. In short, it protects only from hints popping up in the search field when a user enters a new request.

These are files with information that are stored in the user’s PC whenever he/she visits a website, clicks buttons, logs in, adds anything to the basket. The next time the website will read them and know that the user has logged in and particular goods have been added to the basket.

“It depends on the situation whether to enable cookies or not,” Vladimir said. “If it’s an online store, it is probably reasonable to save goods in the basket when you close the website. Or, if it’s a social media, the user does not want to log in every time.” 

It is almost impossible to delete information about you from the internet. “We should understand that everything that we leave on the internet remains there forever,” Vladimir said. “Despite it, one can send a request to Google and other companies for personal data removal. They are unwilling to respond to such requests, yet this method can help erase some digital trace.”

Keep in mind that none tool can protect you and your data 100 per cent. But safe browsers, complex and different passwords, use of reliable websites can do it to some extent.  And be sure not to throw your data around on the internet.