I've refused to accept google's new privacy agreement

[HawkEye244]

Which means I can no longer use it ! Goodbye google !

I've started using another search engine called https://duckduckgo.com/, and it's actually a hark back to the internet of a bygone era, it's because the searches don't go through a personal filter, which is what happens with google when you use it; you get a filtered search according to what the 'algorithm' thinks is suitable for you because your searches and what websites you view are being tracked at all times. This censors out pages which may have been interesting to you.

I was shocked to see just how different the results are when typing the same phrase or words and comparing the results with another search engine. It became clearly apparent straight away that google's results are marketed product focused results (companies that have paid or have identified you as a potential customer pay for this). I always knew this but grossly under-estimated the impact it was having on the results.

Google also seemed to filter or censor out webpages which appeared on alternative search engines, perhaps they do this to help secure their users, however I didn't ask for them to do this and I don't really appreciate it as I want to decide what is relevant to me, not a robot.

I'd say if you're at all concerned with privacy in this day and age, give up google and go elsewhere. It's not as though it will make a difference in the grand scheme of things but it does make your use of the internet more enjoyable, I don't think I could go back to google now given how they work. Try it and see the difference

 

[JBR]

I looked at that search engine and may give it a try if I can't find what I want on Google.

What about Yahoo? That's the alternative I would normally use when necessary. Does it filter search results?

 

[big-all]

it seems to think i live in india ??
"rail enquiries "

 

[OwainDIYer]

it seems to think i live in india ??
"rail enquiries "

That's because National Rail Enquiries was outsourced to India several years ago.

 

[empip]

You may choose to use the likes of , https://startpage.com/uk/? then again you may not.
Blimey, what google or any one of them suggests, and what / where I buy is a different 'kettle of fish' .

Google and the rest of them may suggest this or that - But in the end I generally find what I want and purchase or not.

I bet I am not alone.

-0-

 

[HawkEye244]

I looked at that search engine and may give it a try if I can't find what I want on Google.

What about Yahoo? That's the alternative I would normally use when necessary. Does it filter search results?

Not sure about yahoo. Duckduckgo was suggested to me a while ago but I had become so accustomed to goggle it felt like I was taking a few evolutionary steps back. The result is a little messy at times but I've found a more eclectic mix of websites compared to google's search results. It feels different.

As far as I'm aware duckduckgo doesn't have a listing service, so advertisers don't pay to get their websites to appear on the first few pages like google. Take an example, I've typed ''how do circuit boards work'' into duckduckgo and all of the results returned have been informative videos on the subject.

Using google, I get a mix of informative videos and a lot of companies selling circuit boards

 

[HawkEye244]

You may choose to use the likes of , https://startpage.com/uk/? then again you may not.
Blimey, what google or any one of them suggests, and what / where I buy is a different 'kettle of fish' .

Google and the rest of them may suggest this or that - But in the end I generally find what I want and purchase or not.

I bet I am not alone.

-0-

Hadn't heard of that one I'll have a look. No harm in having a few different one's on tap just to see the comparisons in what gets thrown up.

 

[mattylad]

What is their new privacy agreement and whats wrong with it?
EDIT: http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

From what I can read it's been made so that we the users can understand it better, data can only be shared within Google to provide us with better adverts aimed at us.

Which if your using a free service such as gmail you expect to also get and use adblockers etc.

 

[HawkEye244]

What is their new privacy agreement and whats wrong with it?
EDIT: http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/

From what I can read it's been made so that we the users can understand it better, data can only be shared within Google to provide us with better adverts aimed at us.

Which if your using a free service such as gmail you expect to also get and use adblockers etc.

Seems you missed this part:

Information that we share

• For external processing
  
  We provide personal information to our affiliates or other trusted businesses or persons to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
  
• For legal reasons
  
  We will share personal information with companies, organisations or individuals outside Google if we have a belief in good faith that access, use, preservation or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary to:
  
  • meet any applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable governmental request.
  • enforce applicable Terms of Service, including investigation of potential violations.
  • detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
  • protect against harm to the rights, property or safety of Google, our users or the public, as required or permitted by law.

We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with our partners – like publishers, advertisers or connected sites. For example, we may share information publicly to show trends about the general use of our services.

If Google is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, we will continue to ensure the confidentiality of any personal information and give affected users notice before personal information is transferred or becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Looks like a lot of mumbo jumbo bullshit to me and I don't want any more ads aimed at me, thanks.

You can use many adblockers through your browser, there are thousands of them and they all do the same thing.

I'm not really concerned with pop-ups though, it's the difference in quality of search results which I find most interesting.

Please continue you to use google if you like it, I've nothing against that.

 

[big-all]

i am quite anal about not sharing my details i always refuse to give details they dont need if they insist and i need the services details like phone number or age its 01010101010 or 110
if i join a website the first thing i do is check privacy setting marketing and contact method
dont forget
home shopping power water phone and broadband council banking credit cards doctors hospital charity and many more can share your details
join the tps and mps to opt out off junk mail and calls from within the uk but wont stop the scam stuff
http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/tps/index.html
mps further down the link