Reasons
I was recently going through my Google Account when I stumbled upon my Google Dashboard. It lists everything Google thing you have used. It sent a shiver down my spine. I use Google search, so they know what I search. I’ve used Google Maps so they know where I live. The one time I’ve used Google Checkout put my dad’s debit card on their file, and using Google Talk, Orkut, Buzz, and Blogger tells them who my friends are. I have my cell phone hooked up to Google Voice, so they know my cell phone number. Google knows what Feeds I’m subscribed to, since I use Google Reader. Google knows what I look like, I’ve posted a picture of myself to Picasa. Then I used the face-recognization technology on Picasa to tell them which faces are mine. They know what email I get because I use Gmail. They know what grade I’m in, I’ve used Google Docs to type school papers. They knew when my birthday was, because I posted it on Google Calendar. Finally, they know what I watch, because I use YouTube. All they need is my social security number and they can be me! If your someone who uses an Android phone, then they know what you do on-the-go.
Google Tries to Hide Your Fears
When I said I used Google Chrome, which means Google knows what I surf, Google had an answer for that. They say that when they collect browser info, they randomize it so they don’t know the IP address it came from, nor the location. That doesn’t really matter, since the very moment me logging into my Google Account appears in my history, Google at least knows the history belonging from when I log-in to when I log-out belongs to a certain account if they wanted to actually look at it. [Editor's Note: Using Google Chrome does not automatically send Google all your browsing statistics as sending the anonymous crash usage data is entirely optional like in many other browsers]
For Gmail, ads at the top of the page appear based off of the content in your mail. Google says that a machine scans the mail then preselects certain related ads to appear. That still means something is reading my email.
Alternatives
If you are thinking of jumping off of the Google Bandwagon, then this is just what you should do. For image storing to replace Picasa, you could use Flickr. You could use Mozila’s Lightning or Sunbird calendar projects to replace Google Calendar. Those are offline programs, though, so if you want an online program like GCal then maybe try 30 Boxes.
You can replace both Google Reader and the iGoogle personal homepage with Netvibes. You could also use Microsoft Office or OpenOffice to replace Google Docs and Spreadsheets, but if you want another free online office try Zoho, ThinkFree Online or Zimbra.
Zoho and Zimbra can also replace your Gmail, but so can Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, Mozilla’s Thunderbird and many others. MapQuest or Bing Maps can replace Google Maps and Bing or Ask can replace Google Search.
Paypal or Amazon Checkout are great replacements for Google Checkout, and Firefox and Opera are good replacements for Google Chrome. You can replace Blogger with Bloglines. Talk, Orkut, and Buzz can be replaced with Twitter, Facebook, AIM, or MySpace. Replace Google Voice with PhoneBooth. Now here comes the big problem: YouTube. You could separate your Google Account and YouTube Account and then change your email, create a new Youtube Account that isn’t tied to any Google Account, or use Blip.tv.
Thanks for reading.
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