PC Doctor February 10, 2017

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Dear PC Doctor:

I use Google Chrome for my browser a lot.  I also have a gmail account.  Is it true that Google is collecting information about me and using it with advertisers?  Can I control some of this?

Thanks,

    Brandon

 

Dear Brandon:

According to PC World, Google Chrome keeps track of sites you visit and uses your browsing history to help you with spelling, finding sites, to give you advertising that’s more relevant to your interests, and more.

On Google’s privacy page, (https://privacy.google.com/#), the company details what information is collected about its users.  Google keeps track of sites you visit, ads you click, videos you watch, and your location information.  Google then uses that data to point you toward other videos you might like to watch, and, in the case of your personal information, uses it to autocomplete forms online.  It’s worth taking a look and reading what’s there to see how you feel about all that.

If you want to be in control of what Google collects and uses, you can change the settings in your account.  Log in, click My Account, and look for Privacy Controls.  You can play around with the options there and see what you think.  (For example, you can turn off Ads Personalization.)

The good news is that Google says the company does not sell your personal data to anyone.  They also do not provide your information to government agencies without a formal legal request following specific processes.

I hope this begins to answer your question.

Until next time,
Happy computing!
  

    PC Doctor