Is Google Watching You? - GoFuckYourself.com

Barefootsies · 07-28-2010, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Another rad browser plugin called Google Alarm hit the Internets this week, which alerts you every time your personal info is sent to Google?s servers. How? Via notifications, a running tally of dangerous sites and, naturally, a super annoying, vuvuzela-like alarm.

After seeing this new plugin ? which works with both Firefox (Firefox) and Chrome (Chrome) ? on F.A.T., I contacted the developer who made it: Jamie Wilkinson, who also created Know Your Meme and Mag.ma. Google Alarm, which was made during F.A.T.?s F*ck Google Week in Berlin, is supposed to make users aware of how much info they?re sending to the search giant.

According to Wilkinson, ?Google (Google) makes great products and gives them all away for free, which has made them into a ubiquitous and omniscient force on the Internet (Internet). Google Alarm and F*ck Google in general are meant to illustrate how this single unregulated company now captures more information about us than any government agency ever could. When I started developing Google Alarm I was blown away to discover that 80+% of websites I visit have some kind of Google tracking bugs on them.?

So how does the plugin work? ?[It] inspects each page you visit for Google-related URLs: googleanalytics.com/ga.js for Google Analytics (Google Analytics), doubleclick.net/googlesyndication.com URLs for AdSense, youtube.com/v/ for YouTube (YouTube) embeds, and many more,? Wilkinson says. ?Each service triggers an individual visual and audible alert to help you become more aware of when you?re transmitting data to Google.? If you?re into the idea, the source code is currently open, and Wilkinsen welcomes suggestions. Check out the video below for more info:

We?ve been seeing a ton of interesting plugins like this lately ? Shaved Bieber, BP Oil, Ex-blocker (which, disclosure, I helped come up with). It would be interesting to see if they actually become legit tools. Wilkinson would tend to agree: ?Browser addons offer a unique opportunity to hack our web browsing experience,? he says. ?We spend so much time on the web that it?s only natural to begin playing with how we observe and interact with it. I wish we had something as powerful for our TV sets.?

What do you think of this plugin? I personally would not recommend enabling it unless you really dig the vuvuzela.

http://mashable.com/2010/07/27/google-alarm/

chris01282 · 07-28-2010, 06:21 AM

from what I have read google records all internet activity by IP address

loreen · 07-28-2010, 07:01 AM

No, I'm watching google.

signupdamnit · 07-28-2010, 10:09 AM

http://www.googlesharing.net/

^ Good extension for Firefox. Read up on it prior to using. It will essentially replace your Google cookie when using Google search and some other Google services. It will also use a remote proxy which is pooled with other users thus making it difficult to track you by IP address. It does have some minor bugs.

LongBG · 07-28-2010, 12:38 PM

All your bases is belong to Google.

BFT3K · 07-28-2010, 12:43 PM

Google has their little googly-eyes on everything now.

It isn't even safe to eat breakfast anymore!

They are watching you...

2012 · 07-28-2010, 12:52 PM

kneel before ZOD !

07-28-2010, 06:21 AM	#2
chris01282 Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 370	from what I have read google records all internet activity by IP address __________________ [img]http://****************/sig/fhv3_b_468x60.gif[/img]

07-28-2010, 07:01 AM	#3
loreen myadultdesign.com Industry Role: Join Date: May 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 12,557	No, I'm watching google. __________________ Banners, logos, headers, peels, FHGs, ads, paysites, photo retouching etc: my adult design portfolio My logo portfolio: PornLogos.com

07-28-2010, 12:38 PM	#5
LongBG Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Sesame Street Posts: 1,101	All your bases is belong to Google. __________________ Contact me: [email protected]

07-28-2010, 12:43 PM	#6
BFT3K Too lazy to set a custom title Industry Role: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Narnia Posts: 10,764	Google has their little googly-eyes on everything now. It isn't even safe to eat breakfast anymore! They are watching you... Last edited by BFT3K; 07-28-2010 at 12:47 PM..

07-28-2010, 10:09 AM	#4
signupdamnit Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,697	http://www.googlesharing.net/ ^ Good extension for Firefox. Read up on it prior to using. It will essentially replace your Google cookie when using Google search and some other Google services. It will also use a remote proxy which is pooled with other users thus making it difficult to track you by IP address. It does have some minor bugs.

07-28-2010, 12:52 PM	#7
2012 So Fucking What Industry Role: Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 17,189	kneel before ZOD !