Google account features that you need to know about
You probably have a Google account, just like anyone else on the Internet. While that statement is oversimplified, it is without doubt that Google is one of the most popular Internet companies out there.
This can be attributed to the company's free services like Gmail, YouTube or Search more than anything else. For Google, it has the advantage that it is still perceived as a "good guy" company.
While having a Google account is great for many users, it does have privacy and other implications. Google provides access to a set of features and modifications that you can make to your account, to improve it.
The following guide highlights the most important changes that you can make to your account to improve its privacy or security.
1. 2-Step Verification
2-Step verification adds a second layer of protection to your Google account. A "bad guy" can't do anything with your username and password alone when activated, as a secondary password is required to complete the sign in process.
While it takes longer to sign in, it improves your account's security by a mile. Note that this means that you will link a phone number to your Google account which you may not want to do because of the privacy implications associated with it.
Recommendation: Turn on
2. Shared Endorsements
Shared Endorsements link your photo on Google to ads that the company displays. So, if you +1, follow, review or share a product or company, you may be the new temporary posterboy for that product or company.
Recommendation: Turn off
3. Email via Google+
This recent opt-out change allows anyone with a Google+ account to send you an email. Messages by people who are in your circles land in your primary inbox on Gmail automatically, while messages from other users in the social group instead.
If you do not like the idea that anyone can email you, even if they do not have your email address, turn it off on Gmail.
Recommendation: Turn off
4. Web History
The Google Web History Web & App Activity records everything that you search by default and activity in applications.
While that may be useful at times as you can look it up again, you may want to block this feature due to privacy concerns that you may have.
While Google will still log what you do, the information may not be used in Google products such as Google Now.
Recommendation: Turn off
5. Account Permissions
The Account Permissions page lists all devices, apps, services and products that you have allowed to access (part of) your Google account. This may be for authorization using Google's authorization service, Android devices that you have registered, or apps that use Google services.
You can use the page to check which apps, services and devices have access to your Google account, and also revoke that access again.
Recommendation: check regularly
6. Recent activity
The recent activity page lists important account specific activities such as sign ins or the creation, change or deletion of passwords.
For each activity, a date and location is displayed which you may find useful in determining if that change has been made by you, or someone else.
Recommendation: check regularly
7. App Passwords
Application specific passwords come into play if you have activated 2-Step Authentication. Some programs and services do not support 2-Step, so that you need to use application passwords instead.
They are custom generated passwords for those programs and services, and while there is no need to create more than one ever, you can theoretically add multiple application-specific passwords to your account.
The page lists them all, provides options to remove them again, or create new ones.
Recommendation: check regularly, remove if not needed anymore
8. Disable Google+
If you do not use Google's social networking service, then you may want to disable it. Since Google will add an account for you when you are creating a new Google account, it may be important to you to disable it again.
To downgrade, click on this link.
Recommendation: if you do not use Google+, disable it
9. Setting for Google Ads
The Settings for Google Ads page allows you to control the types of advertisement that you see when using Google products, and when browsing the web.
Among the features are options to opt-out of interest-based ads, or to edit languages in which you see ads.
Recommendation: opt-out of interest based ads.
10. Change your password
You can change your Google account password on this page. This can become important if someone tricked you into giving up your password, or if you have the feeling or certainty that something is not right.
Recommendation: change when necessary
“Do you use Google Photos?”
I do; I find it impossible not to use Google Photos on the Android phone; nevertheless, the “memory” feature is sort of neat. I’ve seen photos from a couple of years ago that that offer glimpses into the long-ago, forgotten past. It’s a lot like reviewing journal writing. “What was I doing and such and such a date?”
And, I think, when the “memories” are sorted and positioned, one can create a mini-collage with up to eight photos.
It’s so much easier to share photos with people rather than journal entries.
Nifty!
I delete the photos after 1 month of being taken. All of them are erased to return to the black and silent nothingness. Only the best ones are printed and placed in a very nice site at home. :]
I should buy a Chromebook.
None of the big tech companies are good but at least Google are the least dishonest and morally bankrupt of them. They’re always trying to do the right thing if the money allow it.
In reply to “https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/19/google-keep-is-getting-a-version-history-but-only-on-the-web/” since the website has gone insane and no one can know where thier comment ends up.
This app should be called “Google Keeps it”. Because, they do.
I use Color Notes. No syncing, no internet, just local.
The article said: “[…] positive outcomes of genocide…”. Perhaps the AI was actually discussing the benefits of reading a “Scroll of genocide” … “You feel dead inside.”.
Martin, this post reply is supposed to belong: [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/22/googles-ai-search-generates-horribly-misleading-answers/] (given the the database is faulty it could appear anywhere or nowhere).
I have yet to be impressed with AI of any kind. I think it’s overhyped and not ready to live up to it.
How to use AI: Avoid the artificial stupidity at all times.
“When searched “Why guns are good,” it also prompted questionable responses, including potentially questionable statistics and reasoning. ”
Based on whose reasoning? These sorts of assertions are generally bullcrap intended to advance an agenda. If you don’t like guns, say so. Meanwhile, there are 400 million firearms in the US owned by close to a third of the population and around 20 million carry concealed.
So your opinion is not shared by a LOT of people who either enjoy firearm spots or are concerned about self-defense or both.
Wow. Ghacks still hasn’t fixed the broken comments system where old comments from a different article appear. Sad to see you slowly turn to dust since the buyout.
@Seeprime,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
This guns comment came up in the Pixel watch repair post and I was bewildered as to what was the connection between the two.
goog = skynet
“human beings” = \slaves\
This info is so NOT correct.
I so do not want google in my life that I have NEVER downloaded chrome and I do NOT have ANY google accounts.
My browser is set to clear all cookies, cache and history every time I close it, which is every day, and I still get these world takeover login prompts on every site I go to.
So I CANT go to google accounts and turn it off.
If this info were truly accurate I wouldnt be getting these pop ups AT ALL.
Thanks @Ashwin for the article! :]
Anyone who continues to use these big tech scum’s cloud services deserves what they get.
Given Ghacks’ comments’ database problems I precise :
I’m commenting the article “Google is in trouble with YouTube Shorts – gHacks Tech News” by Emre Çitak
at [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/googles-youtube-shorts-problem/]
—
About the article’s question, “What do you think about YouTube Shorts?” (BTW first time I read here any other writer other than Martin Brinkmann directly asks the audience it’s opinion, and that’s just fine) :
YouTube Shorts may suit smartphones (which I don’t use) but on a PC they are not my cup of tea, to put it mildly.
From what I read a bit everywhere, opinions are shared : love or hate. For those who dislike many scripts and dedicated browser extensions have been developed to handle them (removal or redirect to standard video display).
I don’ view YouTube videos on YouTube but via a Piped or a Piped-Material YouTube front-end instance and these offer on search results and on channels the option to view Videos-Shorts-Livestreams-Playlists-Channels ; well, I practically never open the ‘Shorts’ display. I don’t like shorts (except in summer, hmm), I dislike the concept, fast-videos after fast-food, fast, faster … to bring what? Emptiness, IMO
Does that answer your question, @Emre Çitak :)
I despise YouTube Shorts. So much in fact, I use custom adblock rules in Brave Shields to remove that crap.
youtube.com##ytd-grid-video-renderer:has([href*=”shorts”])
youtube.com###dismissible:has([href*=”shorts”])
There’s an extension for Firefox and Chrome browsers called “Youtube-shorts block”, re-opens the video in a normal window. :)
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-shorts-block/
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/youtube-shorts-block/jiaopdjbehhjgokpphdfgmapkobbnmjp
ps. say NO to Shorts, it only encourage shooting vertical-videos which doesn’t go well with many desktop displays… except when shooting vertical objects, such as ahem… pretty ladies. :)
Page source shows that ghacks is still using WordPress as the platform. Knowing, more or less, how it works at the DB level I am not sure how one could mess up comments this badly. It is actually very difficult.
Google is the big leader of everything. Indeed it can actually buy Amazon, Disney, Netflix, X and whatever other company. I wonder what could happen if Google starts to build airspace ships in order to conquer the Moon. I bet that Google would be the first to offer free WiFi at the Moon. Please fix the comments.
This comment is inside the article:
[https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/04/what-is-google-synthid-and-how-does-it-work/]
This “analysis” is disappointingly shallow and trivial. Why not include other factors like job level, responsibilities, full-time/part-time, qualifications, etc.? Because the conclusions probably wouldn’t fit the current leftist/feminist narrative. You don’t find what you don’t look for.
Misleading statistics.
Wage should be based on the amount of time, works, thinking (brain > muscle), responsibilities etc
Not skin pigmentation or your genitalia. There could be correlations, but not causations.
“Google maintains that it provides a superior product”
That is also Mozilla’s official position in defense of Google against the people, on that question of search engine abuse of dominant position by Google.
The funniest part is that not only it’s false regarding actual competitors, but even among not-actual-competitors there are meta-search engines that use exactly the same engine, just minus the tracking, so Google is clearly the inferior one compared to those already. But maybe what Google is saying is that it is the surveillance and bubbling that would make their engine superior. False again even without considering the damage those do.
“Google increases Chromebook support to 10 years”
I mean that’s great and all, but imagine using a browser-based, highly internet-dependent OS such as chrome. I’ve never used chromeOS but have seen it in person and read about it, just seems like ultra-limited user experience which relies on the concept that “most things can be done in a browser”.
What is there to support? It just a glorified web browser.
“Google launched Chromebooks in 2012 as low-cost devices and the company has had great success in the education world, especially in the United States.”
Happy tracking for all those unsuspecting children. And help normalize surveillance for those young brains. Well done Google.