How Do I Keep My Privacy While Using Google?

hubert.lepicki writes "I use Google all the time. I keep two GMail tabs open when I'm online (one is private, another is a corporate account), I use Google search, and recently I switched to the Chromium browser. Google's services are fast, easy to use and usually reliable. At the same time, I know Google is tracking everything I do; I can see it in search results or their ads on web pages, which tend to match my interests. After the recent post by Mozilla's community director suggesting Bing has a better privacy policy (a response to questionable comments from Google CEO Eric Schmidt), I started to... 'google' ways of keeping my private data safe while browsing and using Google services. The results weren't very helpful, so I ask you, Slashdotters: how do I stay anonymous to Google while using their services?"

Comments

Tor?

[rvw]

Why not use Tor for search queries? Your gmail is obviously a different story, because using Tor wouldn't make much difference for Google. So set Opera or Chrome to use Tor, and you're set for that part.

Re:Ideas

[AHuxley]

http://wikileaks.org/wiki/EU_social_network_spy_system_brief%2C_INDECT_Work_Package_4%2C_2009
Is just what IP tracking is for. You can have all the IM and browsers you want, over time the database logs 'you' and your friends once a set of "dictionary" words are tripped.
Every search and IM is now "Signals intelligence" to the gov and marketing to the .coms.
Or you can sell the 'data' to the gov too while running a marketing front :)

Re:Ideas

[Anonymous Coward]

They do have extra info - flash cookies. I can safely bet 99% of you never remember to clear them, and for example Gmail/Google's services explicitly uses them to match IP changes (or use of proxies) with a single computer.

Funny thing is their ToS "Google may store cookies" probably covers flash cookies too, even if everybody would think they wouldn't use such tactics. And who said Google is not evil?

Re:Ideas

[maxwell demon]

Blocking Flash should be the default for anyone concerned about privacy, anyway. And with the BetterPrivacy Firefox add-on can in addition clear your Flash cookies between browser sessions, so even for things like YouTube where you absolutely need Flash the tracking ability is at least reduced (of course you'll have to regularly close the browser for it to be effective).