Steve Ensley
Internet Safety Specialist
Google announces privacy changes; users CAN NOT opt out
January 25th, 2012
Wow! This happened even faster than I thought it would! A quote from within the article above says it all:
“There is no way anyone expected this,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group. “There is no way a user can comprehend the implication of Google collecting across platforms for information about your health, political opinions and financial concerns.”
Folks, forget the spin from the Google people and the government about how this will help privacy. The information collected by Google will virtually allow anyone with authority to know exactly where you are and what you are doing at any time. And it is well known that Google is tightly connected with the current administration. On OpenSecrets.org, Google is listed as the top contributor to the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Google is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that no one is talking about.
I will try to keep you informed as more detail become available. As for me, I have officially stopped using Google search, email and document services. I also turned off all GPS functions on my android phone and will find a phone that has nothing to do with Google (if I can).
Developing …..
Posted in Internet Safety | Comments (4)
January 30th, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Steve, can you tell me HOW to ‘cancel’ Google please? I am not clear if there is something I need to do ? Or do I just stop using it?
I only use it to search, have no email address or anything else.
Thanks, Steve, for your help with this & for your vigilence in keeping us safe from government interference!
God Bless!
Beth
January 31st, 2012 at 7:35 am
Since you only use it for searching, go to your add/remove programs and remove the google toolbar (if installed) and then use another search engine. We have GoodSearch on our home page (http://myafo.net), but you can also use yahoo or bing and get equally acceptable results.
February 6th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Steve,
Are there safe alternative free email hosts out there? The company I work for has used Gmail for several free emails. We use them, but not enough to warrant payment of email service. Thank you for your time and attention!
Loretta
February 6th, 2012 at 6:31 pm
The one I recommend and trust is at http://praize.com