WELCOMEPAGE
ISSUE 380|COMPUTERSHOPPER|OCTOBER 2019 3
E
ven though I’m well aware that pretty much
everything Idonowadays is tracked and stored on
the internet somewhere,seeing the range of
information gathered and in one place is quiteshocking.
The wake-up call formecame while Iwas editing our
cover feature this month on how to reclaim your online
privacy (page 94). The section on shopping history explains
how Google stores arecord of anything you’ve ever bought
online,thanks to data gathered either through its web
browser or Gmail service.
Ipromptly logged intomyaccount.google.com/purchases,
and was shocked at the level of detail Google is storing
about me,how farback this history goes, and how wide-
ranging the purchases are.Everything from smartphone app
subscriptions to theatre tickets, rolls of wallpaper to
children’s clothes are listed, along with the order date,
estimated delivery date, cost of items, delivery address and
even if the order was returned.
Realising that Google Maps is following you around
everywhere you go and plotting acourse of every place
you’ve visited is also an eye-opener.
Then there’s the fact that any smart speakers you might
have around the house could be eavesdropping on your
conversations, recording your words and then passing them
on to workers at companies such as Amazon to listen to,all
apparently to improve their voice assistant technology.
Our article takes you through the steps needed to
prevent the tech giants from spying on you and building
up aprofile based on what you do online.Fortunately,
these are all pretty straightforward and quick to carry out,
but the instructions are often hidden awaybehind less-
than-obvious menu options.
There might even be some areas that you’re happytolet
Google,Amazon and others gather data about you in return
foracertain level of convenience.But it’s still better to take
this opportunity to check out your profile on each of the
sites, as that wayyou can switch off or limit anything you
don’t feel offers abenefit in return.MadelineBennett,Editor
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ContributingContributingEditorDavidLudlowdavid@computershopper.co.uk
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LIABILITY
While every care was taken preparing this magazine, the publishers
cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the information or
any consequence arising from it. All judgementsare based on equipment
available toComputerShopperShopperat the time of review. ‘Value for money’
comments are based on UK prices at time of review. All prices include
VAT unless otherwise stated.
ComputerShopperShoppertakes no responsibility for the content of external
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Copyright ©Dennis Publishing Limited 2019. All rights reserved.
Computer Shopper is aregistered trademark.
Neither the whole of this publication nor any part of it may be
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ersabenefitinrMadelineBe