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Google scares me more and more
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mattyb
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Mar 22, 2015, 11:09 AM
 
Used DuckDuckgo to search for Easyjet in Firefox. Booked Easyjet flight using Firefox. Got a confirmation email from Easyjet in my Gmail account.

Used the telephone to reserve a hotel. Got the confirmation email from the hotel in my Gmail account.

Gcal updated with an appointment for the outbound and return flights. It also created all-day events for my hotel stay.

Yeah, that scares me.
     
mindwaves
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Mar 22, 2015, 11:14 AM
 
There is probably a setting for that.

I also use DDG and my primary email account is @me.com, so I won't have such issues. I do, however, have a gmail account, and I make sure that I am never logged onto the account when web browsing.
     
OreoCookie
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Mar 22, 2015, 01:29 PM
 
@mattyb
If you use Gmail, you're signed into a Google account, and Google can track you. If you don't like, you definitely have to get off of Gmail.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
turtle777
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Mar 22, 2015, 03:30 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
@mattyb
If you use Gmail, you're signed into a Google account, and Google can track you. If you don't like, you definitely have to get off of Gmail.
That wouldn't do anything in his example.

Once an email is sent to Gmail, that information will be used for all kinds of things.

This is the reason I don't use Gmail.

-t
     
subego
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Mar 22, 2015, 03:42 PM
 
I'm not sure which meme fits this the best, but here's the text...

"I use DDG so Google doesn't get my info..."

[picture]

USES GMAIL AND GCAL.
     
OreoCookie
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Mar 23, 2015, 01:53 AM
 
Originally Posted by turtle777 View Post
That wouldn't do anything in his example.
???
I suggested to switch email provider, how is Google going to track his emails then (unless the other party uses gmail, of course.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
mattyb  (op)
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Mar 23, 2015, 06:08 AM
 
I've got to get off Gmail. But not Outlook, not Apple, not Yahoo.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Mar 23, 2015, 06:24 AM
 
GMX?
     
subego
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Mar 23, 2015, 07:09 AM
 
My privacy is ****ed anyway, why kick better ads out of bed?
     
P
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Mar 23, 2015, 07:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
I've got to get off Gmail. But not Outlook, not Apple, not Yahoo.
OK, but why, for each case?
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
turtle777
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Mar 23, 2015, 07:43 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
???
I suggested to switch email provider, how is Google going to track his emails then (unless the other party uses gmail, of course.
Sorry, when I first read your comment, I thought you meant to "log out of Google" when you said "get off".

Yes, not using Google is the solution.

-t
     
osiris
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Mar 23, 2015, 09:40 AM
 
This is not a surprise if you know Google. It's their business to know your business, and to somehow make money off it.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
OreoCookie
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Mar 23, 2015, 09:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
I've got to get off Gmail. But not Outlook, not Apple, not Yahoo.
Why not Apple? Their email service has worked very reliably for me, I have no complaints. And with Apple I know that they don't rely on them scraping my emails for ad revenue.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
mattyb  (op)
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Mar 23, 2015, 11:16 AM
 
Originally Posted by P View Post
OK, but why, for each case?
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Why not Apple? Their email service has worked very reliably for me, I have no complaints. And with Apple I know that they don't rely on them scraping my emails for ad revenue.
Big Brother aspects + all email servers are US based afaik so my data is not my own.
     
The Final Dakar
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Mar 23, 2015, 11:26 AM
 
Perhaps you can ask Hilary Clinton for an email address. She seems pretty good about not releasing emails.
     
OreoCookie
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Mar 23, 2015, 11:30 AM
 
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
Big Brother aspects + all email servers are US based afaik so my data is not my own.
I don't quite get it: you're concerned about big brother, but you have a Gmail account?!? How does that fit together?

Quite honestly, unfortunately, I don't think there is a reasonable expectation to privacy anymore when it comes to email. The safest thing would be to run your own email server somewhere, and hope that given the size of the target, that it's missed. The Five Eyes syphon all traffic, and that includes big foreign email services for sure.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
     
mattyb  (op)
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Mar 23, 2015, 04:20 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
I don't quite get it: you're concerned about big brother, but you have a Gmail account?!? How does that fit together?
Originally Posted by mattyb View Post
I've got to get off Gmail. But not Outlook, not Apple, not Yahoo.
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Quite honestly, unfortunately, I don't think there is a reasonable expectation to privacy anymore when it comes to email. The safest thing would be to run your own email server somewhere, and hope that given the size of the target, that it's missed. The Five Eyes syphon all traffic, and that includes big foreign email services for sure.
Thats what I was thinking. I was hoping that a Lounge dweller might have an alternative.
     
turtle777
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Mar 23, 2015, 10:03 PM
 
Well then, if you don't mind paying, Fastmail is excellent.

-t
     
Snow-i
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Mar 23, 2015, 11:17 PM
 
Regardless of what google does with your email, it's very nature is very public as you have no control over the "other side" of received and sent emails. Locking down your side does nothing for when your emails leave your server or before they've hit your server. Especially against google, yahoo, ISP or Microsoft powered emails (the vast majority of them out there).

Your best bet for obscurity and complete privacy when it comes to your communications is, unfortunately, the old fashioned way. That, or only whitelist emails from services you trust not to use your data (completely impractical).

Any privacy precautions you do take in regards to which service you use are strictly for your imagined peace of mind.
     
osiris
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Mar 24, 2015, 10:01 AM
 
But how would we sleep at night if we didn't have an imagined peace of mind?

This concept is applicable to nearly everything in life, for sure.
"Faster, faster! 'Till the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." - HST
     
Jawbone54
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Mar 24, 2015, 12:51 PM
 
Honestly, it just sounds like the most convenient thing in the world.

Scary? Yes. Invasive? Sure.

Easier than keying all this crap into your calendar yourself? Oh, yes indeed.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Mar 28, 2015, 12:10 PM
 
So it seems anyone who used Safari (and Google) on a Mac between summer 2011 and spring 2012 is going to be able to sue Google in the UK.

Millions of British Safari users able to sue Google over secretly-dropped cookies | 9to5Mac
( Last edited by Waragainstsleep; Mar 29, 2015 at 05:22 AM. )
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Laminar
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Mar 29, 2015, 01:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Honestly, it just sounds like the most convenient thing in the world.

Scary? Yes. Invasive? Sure.

Easier than keying all this crap into your calendar yourself? Oh, yes indeed.
Yeah, I forward travel itineraries from my work email to my Gmail so that Google picks it up and automatically shows me flight status and driving directions to the hotel.
     
turtle777
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Mar 29, 2015, 09:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by Jawbone54 View Post
Honestly, it just sounds like the most convenient thing in the world.

Scary? Yes. Invasive? Sure.

Easier than keying all this crap into your calendar yourself? Oh, yes indeed.
There's a good alternative:

Tripit.com + FlightTrack Pro.

-t
     
subego
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Mar 29, 2015, 11:02 AM
 
Emails are the digital equivalent of postcards. The government doesn't even have to ask to read them. They just sniff the server traffic, which is unencrypted.

The only thing Google can do to hurt me with my email is hand it over to the government, which I'd be stupid to imagine is even necessary.

The solution is don't do incriminating shit in email.

Beyond that, I actually forward all my email to Google, and you know what? I get really good ads for AV equipment.
     
subego
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Mar 29, 2015, 11:09 AM
 
Here's where Google scares me...



The date on the newest local story is peas porridge hot, nine days old. WTF Google?
     
   
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