Is there any way I can stop google and youtube from seeing what I am doing or ‘talking’ to each other about what I am doing at least? Its been happening enough that I am just seriously weirded out and not comfortable, I thought I would ask here and hopefully get some help.
Just so we’re clear, you do realize humans aren’t the ones observing this? Google has an algorithm that tracks your behavior to try and give you ads and content that you might like.
But rest assured, unless you’re performing criminal activity, you’ll be fine
If you are, well then stop it
Wait until you get an ad for something that you have only mentioned in the privacy of your living room the evening before. Never in a text, email, social media post, or search.
Switch your browser to Brave. Also, switch to duck duck go search engine.
It most likely won’t stop tracking at 100%, but it will reduce it significantly.
I swear… Lol.
Sometimes I’ll just think about something, not look it up or anything, and then all of a sudden I see adds about it all over my phone… I swear my brains been hacked…
Also, clear your cache, history, and cookies. If you still have this problem, download an extension that will clear your ‘flash cookies’ (cookies that are less accessible because somehow related to flash parts of web pages).
As another writes, get an adblocker for youtube. Essential!
The easiest way is to stop using Google products. After which, you will probably have to stop using Microsoft products.
I don’t think you understand what “easy” is supposed to mean
It wouldn’t be too hard to cut out Google+Microsoft products if you really wanted to. There are plenty of FOSS that work just as well as their consumer products.
“Not too hard” and “easy” are two different things. There’s a reason these giant megacorps have such a monopoly on the world: ease of access, ease of use, and universal adoption. If they weren’t the easiest solution, they wouldn’t be the thing 90% of the world uses.
Gee, wonder who own Youtube?
The one that sees all…
In short, if you own/use anything that touches Google or Amazon or Facebook, you’re hosed. But especially Google, though Amazon is getting “up there”. With that said, you can stop using the Google search engine (one of the biggest spy mechanisms ever created in history), you can use things like NoScript and uBlock Origin (browser wise). These will not only help keep you from doing absolutely stupid things with regards to your own privacy, but may even help you enjoy the Internet again. Some sacrifices do have to be made. You can’t say, “I want, need, have to have Big Brother 3000 X, because my grandchild says I have to have it.” Sacrifices have to be made to avoid inherently evil things.
Some “things” won’t work “right” and may require some knowledge to make them “work” while keeping “evil parts” from working. These folks are not your friends. And so, they actively looks for “ways” to do their “evil” around any circumvention you might come up with.
It’s a fun game. Game as in “The Most Dangerous Game”
I’m pretty good at protecting myself from those empires, and even so, they probably know a hundred times more than what I think they know about me (yes, it’s that bad).
Even more fun, ever notice that “what you say” is processed and shows up in your ads? In order to understand “Hey Google”, or “Alexa”, they do have to be able to hear everything you know?
Noscript is… Interesting. It’s very useful and I love using it. Though learning how to use it at first was a little confusing.
Different browser for streaming.
My wife and I don’t share any devices, yet my apps will show me things that she has only talked about to me!
Lol my husband will be talking to me about something and 5 minutes later he opens his phone to browse on Facebook (because he’s ALWAYS on there) and suddenly there’s an add within his feed that shows something for the topic he was just talking to me about. He starts yapping at me about “I’m telling you, this crap is LISTENING TO ME”.
And every single time I have to respond to him with how he never goes into his settings and disables access to his mic, geolocation, ad preferences, ad trackers, etc etc, and that he needs to do it after every app update occurs and on and on, just like I do. Even as im saying it to him, he’s turning his head down and looking back at the phone, so I just walk away and let him whine another day.
It takes so much work to stay on top of the privacy and security features of the phones, apps, accounts and synced platforms we have. World wide web, indeed.
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Talk to you but with both of your phones present lmfao
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Same network (home Wifi)
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Further stretch: Regular connexion through messaging apps, same location, ect.
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Wait 'til you find out what PornHub is telling your mother!
No…
No matter the setting, they’ll always track and follow you. Others are saying to turn a setting off, but all it does is hide the fact that they’re following you and everything you’re doing…
Honestly I just don’t like thinking about it, if possible I would prefer if they didn’t do it, but thats not going to happen, so even if they are tracking me, just not seeing it would be better than seeing it with me. Ignorance is bliss sometimes. I just don’t like thinking about it, but there aren’t a lot of options.
There’s a reason why people are going back to “dumb phones”…
here is what I recomend:
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Use FreeTube. It is a fully open source youtube client which fetches videos from invidious which makes u anonymous while accessing youtube and allows you to “Subscribe” to individual creators so you can check on what they post. More here: freetubeapp.io
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Install and configure uBlock Origin.
import custom filter lists such as Developer Dans Lightswitch 05: https://www.github.developerdan.com/hosts/
and OISD Filter list which can be found at oisd.nl.
- change search engine to brave search or duckduck go and use a more privacy friendly browser like Firefox. If you do not want to give up chromium, I recommend Vivaldi which allows for chrome extensions and offers many search engines to choose from which are privacy friendly.
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Basically, you have to segregate your online life. I use Yahoo for mail, because it’s not owned by Microsoft or Google, and also because I’ve had it for years–if I were starting over I’d probably do something different. I use Firefox for browser because it’s not owned by Microsoft or Google. I use Duckduckgo for search because it’s not owned by Microsoft or Google. I do use Windows for some things, because that’s Microsoft’s most indispensable product (though I do quite a bit through a unix VM when possible) but basically I strive to give each company only one point of contact with me. I do use Android for cellphone for similar reason–that’s Google’s most indispensable product, but it’s my only contact with them and I log on from a phone-only account not connected to anything on the PC. This Reddit account is associated with me only through Protonmail, not my main mail. You for sure don’t have to log in to use Youtube. And I use NordVPN. Is that too much? Not enough? You decide.
How do you watch youtube videos that are graphic and require a log in?
Google is an ad company and offer free web analytics to Web sites. As such, they have a humongous foot print for picking up activity on other sites.
Use FreeTube. It is a fully open source YouTube client which fetches videos from invidious which makes u anonymous while accessing YouTube and allows you to “Subscribe” to individual creators so you can check on what they post.
More here: freetubeapp.io
Even if you switch the settings off, websites are collecting and sending information through different pixels that they might be using. You can try and install ghost pixe tracker or something to see how many websites are doing this. The argument that they present is, “we don’t listen to you or read your conversations, we check for specific keywords and if there is a match, we show the ad” It’s stupid. Google is fucked up. But so is every other site. Privacy is a joke.