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Google and YouTube: How to reduce your data footprint

2020-08-15T19:19:06.055Z


If you are looking for information about a person, you google them. Google also operates other important services such as YouTube, Docs and Drive. So it's time to check what the offers reveal to others.


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In addition to its search engine, Google also operates the video portal YouTube

Photo: c't

Have you googled ego lately? So: typed your name into the Google search mask? You should do this every now and then - especially if you have a fancy name. But Google also spits out hits for people with common names if you put a little more information into the query - for example, the place of residence or the name of the sports club.

Google is often the first port of call when a person searches for information about another. The search engine contributes significantly to the image of the person you are looking for. It is therefore good to know what Google finds about you, even if you believe with well-maintained social media profiles and your own homepage that you have put your name on the Internet in the right light.

Google may also find hidden posts on social media or comment columns that you have published under a nickname. And it is often not difficult to establish the relationship between a real name and a nickname. You should therefore also search for your pseudonyms. In your ego research, you should also try the image search. Maybe someone posted an unfavorable picture in the context of your name.

There are also specialized search engines for people such as Yasni and Webmii. More important, because it is better known, is Google. It makes sense to notice when new information about you appears there. Google provides a tool for this: Google Alerts. There you can set up automated recurring searches. Whenever Google Alerts finds a new hit for one of the search phrases stored there, it informs you by e-mail.

Everything is social

Google is not only relevant for social media hygiene because of its search engine. The company also operates a few dozen other services - and many of them have social functions that you can use to share content or edit documents together, for example.

This is not a unique selling point of Google offers, but almost the norm for current web services and apps. But Google Photos, Docs and Drive are extremely popular and widespread. Therefore, using your example, we will describe how the social features can have an impact and how you can get rid of lax approvals.

Google Photos, for example, is a frequently used image store because of its close connection to Android. Photos and picture albums can be shared with friends with just a few clicks. Google generates a link with a non-guessable address and sends it to the friends. Access can only be limited in time for Google accounts for companies and educational institutions.

Anyone with a link can access a shared album. It doesn't have to be bad will: A link accidentally posted in a forum makes a private photo album public. It is therefore advisable to always check which pictures and albums have been approved. Google Photos shows these under the menu item "Share" (and the albums that have been shared with you by others). If you click on the three-dot menu in the overview and then on "Delete album", Google will stop sharing.

The service then also deletes pictures and comments added by third parties, the album itself with your own pictures remains private. You can achieve the same effect within such a folder by clicking on the logo of one of the people to whom you have given access to the folder in the upper left corner and "Deactivate sharing" in the dialog that pops up.

The ones in the shadows

You have to quickly set up a document with someone from another department at work; the company Sharepoint server does not provide this without additional approvals from the IT department; Nobody answers there. What do employees do under time pressure in such a situation? They simply set up the document on Google Docs - with their private accounts.

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A quick search on Google Drive shows whether colleagues or friends who have passed away still have access rights to online documents

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c't

A zone is created that is not controlled by the company and, in case of doubt, is not cleared up even after use. Letters, agreements or tables are permanently around on the Internet. Former employees retain their access even if they have long left the company.

Such a shadow IT with forgotten authorizations can also exist in a private setting, for example in the case of documents designed together for an association. Regardless of the extent to which such old releases are suspected: They can be found with the advanced search of Google Drive, which also includes Google Docs documents.

There is no operator in the search who shows you all documents with approvals. You can use "To: <name>" to search for releases for individual people. As a rule, there should be a manageable number of people from whom you have to withdraw usage rights.

What is important on YouTube

Meanwhile, YouTube is no longer just about simply consuming videos; Fans and haters exchange ideas extensively in the comments.

In the heat of the moment, you can overshoot the mark. If you are not sure whether all of your comments should be read today, you can use the comment history to see an overview of all your posts and delete embarrassing comments.

Elsewhere, in the settings, under "Data protection" you will find further options that dampen YouTube's hunger for data. There you can mark your playlists and subscriptions as private.

Keep an eye on your data

In general, it is a good idea for users of Google services and Android to take a close look at the Google Dashboard at myaccount.google.com. For example, do you know which devices are set up for use with your Google account - so who can access your Google account in case of doubt? Under Security / My devices you get an overview and can remove devices immediately. In the security settings you can also see which third-party apps are allowed to access which data and adjust the settings.

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With Google Takeout, users can have an archive of their content stored on Google created.

Photo: 

c't

Looking through the "privacy check" section of the dashboard should take some time for many users because Google collects data with quite a few applications. Particularly critical settings here (in addition to the already mentioned YouTube history) are the "location history" and the "web and app activities", that is, the search queries as well as "further activities in Google search, in Google Maps and in others Google services ". All three can be "paused".

Google itself noticed that it makes little sense to archive information forever. For web and app activities, for example, it offers the option of automatically deleting the stored information after three or 18 months.

If you want to get an overview of a large part of the data you have accumulated on Google, you can download a collection of your stored data with Takeout - a good overview.

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Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2020-08-15

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