Google Toolbar Tracks Browsing Even After Users Choose to Disable

Source

...when users specifically instruct that the Google Toolbar be “disable[d]”, and even when the Google Toolbar seems to be disabled (e.g., because it disappears from view), Google Toolbar continues tracking users’ browsing...

...these transmissions include the full URLs users visit – including domain names, directories, filenames, URL parameters, and search terms...

To sum up the article, even after a user disables certain features in association with the Google Toolbar, or even when disabling the entire toolbar, a user's browsing history is still transmitted over to Google. Obviously, these actions do serve some purpose, as it helps Google serve increasingly targeted ads to users, however the manner in which this is occurring is questionable.

The average user will have to jump through some hoops to get their machines to stop transmitting this data and most will assume they have successfully disabled this, but this will probably not be the case.

Google is like a double edged sword, they have made some serious advancements in "freeing information" across the internet, as many small websites receive a large portion of their revenue from AdSense, allowing them to operate their websites for no monetary cost to the user. At the same time, they are gathering intelligence into not only the general browsing habits of all users, but specific data that is potentially identifiable on a user by user basis.

Thoughts?

[edit on 26-1-2010 by kawz1]

GREAT MATE! if only more people joined to say tips like this to the public!
remember,the internet is the only free battlefield we have left,and they cant take that from us,couse the best hackers,work for the people,for a higher cause.

reply to post by kawz1


As far as it keeping searches locally, you can disable that...click on the pulldown search button, choose manage, disable save searches.

as far as it sending your search results to some big database somewhere to track trends of how many people search on chocolate rain lyrics...I dont care about all that much, so long as their privacy forbids any and all access to said data on a person to person basis....just trend tracking that are used for stastical breakdowns...typically sold to big companys and whatnot.

reply to post by kawz1


How about just uninstalling it, instead of disabling it? That'd do the trick.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Damn it now I can't get that song out of my head

I suspect may different programs work on my computer to give out my browsing info. Some of them belong to the government. Getting rid of Google won't do much to stop them. I started using PeerGuardian
download.cnet.com... It blocks some info but the good stuff Big Brother will always be able to get.

reply to post by davesidious


Yeah, uninstalling it would work, but most people want to have this toolbar on their browser, as it's very convenient. This article is targeted for those users that want to keep the toolbar without the transmission of so much of their info.

There's also a Firefox add-on called: CustomizeGoogle

May be of some assistance, not sure. I use it, but I also very rarely use the Google search and I do not use the Google toolbar.

There is also a great search called: Scroogle

Originally posted by LadySkadi
There's also a Firefox add-on called: CustomizeGoogle

May be of some assistance, not sure. I use it, but I also very rarely use the Google search and I do not use the Google toolbar.

There is also a great search called: Scroogle

Great alternatives, however, if anyone here wants to check out Scroogle, make sure you go to scroogle.org and not ".com", your boss or wife might give you the ol' one-two!

This is why I never ever bother to install toolbars. And if a software package installs one, then I quickly hightail it to the control panel and uninstall it.

reply to post by kawz1
Yes, good point about Scroogle.

I found out the hard way... ahem... while showing my mum the alternative to Google.



Additionally, a cool feature on the Firefox add-on (CustomizeGoogle) is that Google ads can be turned off as well as click tracking.






[edit on 26-1-2010 by LadySkadi]