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by ttt0 1960 days ago
That's really cool, but didn't you guys got sued for tracking people even after they opted out?

https://www.cnet.com/news/google-sued-for-allegedly-tracking...

If I remember correctly you were also tracking logged out users. Are you still doing that or how do I opt out if I don't have an account? Do I have to install Chrome?
1 comments
tylerhou 1960 days ago
Everything below is my opinion, or information to the best of my personal knowledge. I don't speak for Google.

That lawsuit alleges that Google was tracking people (with analytics) during incognito mode, which is different from opting out of ad personalization. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23552967 for HN discussion on the topic.

If you use Firefox, you can install https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/interest-adve... to also opt out of ad-personalization.

Turning off ad personalization doesn't turn off tracking; it just prevents that data from being used in ads. If you want to turn off data collection altogether (for your Google account) you can manage activity altogether https://myactivity.google.com/activitycontrols. (I don't know whether this affects analytics; I assume it does, though.)

If you want to disable analytics tracking when you're logged out, you can install another extension (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout) or just install a content blocker like uBlock Origin that blocks the analytics.js/gtag.js scripts altogether.

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underslung 1960 days ago
fwiw I do not work at Google and I believe opting out of ad-tracking (via your Google account) is independent of general data analytics.

The stronger fingerprinting technology becomes (whether browser and/or network based) the more irrelevant a Google account will be for PII tracking.

[this is my opinion, take with grain of salt]

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freebuju 1960 days ago
More like a pinch :D

Though I do agree with your logic. Google won't need your login info to profile you any more than Facebook does.

Your browser FP (such as hardware device info), IP address, frequent search terms (browsing habits) and distinct pattern will be sufficient enough to identify you without logging in. Metadata is everything in locking down targets.

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