Google to customers: Value your privacy? Then you're paranoid.

I use google chrome on my track and trace device. Excuse me, I mean "smartphone".

While exploring chrome, I came across something called "incognito mode".

The first thing that caught my attention was the graphic that google chose to use:

Ooooo kay......

And then there's the following disclaimer:

You've gone incognito.

Pages you view in this tab won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your device after you close all incognito tabs. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.

Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software.

Be wary of surveillance by secret agents or people standing behind you.

Seriously? Yes seriously. It says those exact words.

While this is a veiled attempt at humor (and not much of one), what they are really implying is that someone who values their privacy is a paranoid schizophrenic.

Why stop there? The TSA should add it to one of their "12 Signs You Might be a Terrorist" list.

This is what it says when I go Incognito :

Pages you view in incognito tabs won’t stick around in your browser’s history, cookie store, or search history after you’ve closed all of your incognito tabs. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be kept. Learn more about incognito browsing

Going incognito doesn’t hide your browsing from your employer, your internet service provider, or the websites you visit.

It's basically telling you that your wife and kids won't know you're surfing porn sites, but your ISP or your boss can find out what you've been up to. The average person has no idea how to hide their on line activity and Google counts on that.

originally posted by: DAVID64
This is what it says when I go Incognito :


The average person has no idea how to hide their on line activity and Google counts on that.

Please Enlighten me! How would one go to hide their on line activity? I'm not that computer literate

a reply to: Alchemst7

Start here.
netforbeginners.about.com...

2) Choices for Web Surfing and Email Anonymity: If you are looking to avoid retribution for your political ideals, or wish to bypass the controls of an oppressive government in your country, there are free proxy and VPN servers available around the Web. But the most reliable anonymity choice is a special two-part freeware solution by the EFF to protect the democratic freedoms of private citizens. When combined, these two items "scramble" and conceal your online identity as a free public service. This anonymity platform is made up of Tor and Privoxy:

"Tor" and "Privoxy" is a combination "anonymizer" platform you install on your own machine. Tor is a special network of web servers run by the EFF and many volunteer server administrators. Privoxy is the software you need to connect to this Tor network.



The Tor Network and the Privoxy software work together to hide your computer's IP address. They accomplish this by bouncing your signal around several Internet servers called Tor "onion routers". Much in the same way Hollywood spy movies depict a telephone call being routed around dozens of false phone locations, so is your online identity when masked by these special Tor servers. Your true IP address is effectively hidden when you surf/email/download through the Tor onion network.

The Privoxy and Tor products are still imperfect, and they do not guarantee your anonymity. But as a start, Tor and Privoxy do reduce your exposure to surveillance, and make you 80% or more difficult to track.

Just for the NSA - FBI or Homeland Security: This was advice to allow more privacy, not help hide illegal activity.
Seriously though, privacy is never a sure thing, no matter what. I never say anything on line that I wouldn't shout standing on a street corner. If you're worried about e mail or surfing, I don't think the alphabet boys really care, as long as your not planning something funny. Besides, they get so much info, they can't even process the important stuff, much less your x rated e mails.

a reply to: Alchemst7

tor with vpn or better yet...buy a chromebook and use it only at coffeeshops and use it only for nefarious activity not linking anything to your real self on it.....

but youll find tor is slow and coffee shops have slower internet as well....

originally posted by: DAVID64
Just for the NSA - FBI or Homeland Security: This was advice to allow more privacy, not help hide illegal activity.
Seriously though, privacy is never a sure thing, no matter what. I never say anything on line that I wouldn't shout standing on a street corner.

Well said. At this point nobody should assume anything they say is anonymous. Exit nodes on tor have been compromised before. There is no such thing as anonymity.

a reply to: gladtobehere

If you are seriously offended by their version of humor you may be a bit over sensitive.

a reply to: gladtobehere

Customers to google.....you can sit on my middle finger and swivel....

originally posted by: gladtobehere
what they are really implying is that someone who values their privacy is a paranoid schizophrenic.

It's a joke, dude. Google products are full of little jokes and Easter eggs. Although, seeing how you're reading waaaaay to much into it, perhaps you are overly paranoid.

a reply to: DAVID64

Thanks for the Info! Reading up about the TOR platform

Good catch. Most persons miss things like this. Correction…most persons conform, and this is a threshold moment.
I am so glad you that brought this one into the light of day! Caught one of 'em red-handed, hiding in the wood pile.

Why do you think they call it 'gaslighting'?


Look it up, if it's still there, under 'psychological abuse' in your recent medical books.
I have seen some techniques vanish from the aegis of what is considered psychological abuse.

I remember who is Google. Sounds like one of 'em got some good stuff, wink.

And he just can't get down with the concept-in fact it would be an inconceivable thought for this person- that a killer cop is right outside his door, er, gate, or mega-yacht, about to harsh his high, so he's opened up a bit, which was a big mistake. There's not a little elitism couched in this. There is a lot, and more. Kontrol.

Never forget. They don't.

# 476

a reply to: DAVID64 I get the OP's , not yours. Either way, I changed to Maxthon browser and Yandex search. I find I am not auto logged into many things nor facing ads about things I bought 5 months ago.

originally posted by: gladtobehere
I use google chrome on my track and trace device. Excuse me, I mean "smartphone".

While exploring chrome, I came across something called "incognito mode".

The first thing that caught my attention was the graphic that google chose to use:

Ooooo kay......

And then there's the following disclaimer:

You've gone incognito.

Pages you view in this tab won't appear in your browser history or search history, and they won't leave other traces, like cookies, on your device after you close all incognito tabs. Any files you download or bookmarks you create will be preserved, however.

Going incognito doesn't affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software.

Be wary of surveillance by secret agents or people standing behind you.

Seriously? Yes seriously. It says those exact words.

While this is a veiled attempt at humor (and not much of one), what they are really implying is that someone who values their privacy is a paranoid schizophrenic.

Why stop there? The TSA should add it to one of their "12 Signs You Might be a Terrorist" list.

being parinoid = got something to hide a?

I always find that google chrome always lags and sticks as though it is phoning home about something. You should try firefox its miles better the developer tools are a lot better.

I recently deleted my Google account. I noticed that when I wasn't logged in, NONE of the posts I had made on Youtube for example were visible, which means they were not visible to anyone else. A search, yes. with Google, showed others having this problem, but had had no luck with tech support and Google seems to have no intention of trying to fix it. This smells like censorship to me. Then I went and looked at the shareholders for Google, reads like a list of PTB corporations. Am I paranoid? Yeah, probably.