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Here's how to secure your Google accounts, limit tracking and keep hackers out

 1 year ago
source link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-secure-google-accounts-limit-120037608.html
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Here's how to secure your Google accounts, limit tracking and keep hackers out

Kim Komando
Sun, July 10, 2022, 9:00 PM·5 min read

Here’s a nightmare scenario: You’re enjoying your hard-earned summer vacation when you realize your phone or laptop is missing.

Beyond the cost of replacing it, you may have lost years of photos and other files – and opened yourself up to some pretty scary consequences. Tap or click for steps to wipe your tech remotely in case this ever happens.

One place you don't want someone snooping is your inbox. Don’t create folders with names like "Medical documents" or "Tax info." Tap or click for 10 hidden email features you should be using.

Your Google account is one of the most important things on your devices, especially if you’re a Gmail user. Here’s a simple way to ensure yours doesn't end up in the wrong hands:

Just how detailed is data tracking?

Google's tracking is mainly for its benefit or for companies that pay big money to target you with ads based on your data.

Speaking of tracking, have you ever searched for your name online and seen how many data broker sites your details are floating around on? I get so many requests for steps to remove this info that I started a new series on my website called Opt-Out Tuesday. Each week, we give directions to erase your profile from these sites.

Tap or click here to take back a little bit of your privacy from sites like BeenVerified, PeopleFinders, SpyFly, and ZabaSearch.

You might not realize how granular that information gets. An advertiser doesn’t only know you're a mom of three from Florida or a marketing exec who lives in Austin. A dossier on you includes your financial bracket, interests, political leanings, shopping preferences, and so much more.

I wanted to know more about this, so I sat down with an advertising chief technology officer and recorded a podcast. Tap or click here to see just how far this data tracking goes.

Data tracking is big business, after all. How big? Alphabet, Google’s parent company, makes about $420,000 every minute. Crazy, right? Not all that money comes from advertising, but it’s the most significant slice of the pie.


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