If you use any Google products out there and have been curious about what Google
actually does with the data it collects, this is going to be the video for you
I'm Josh Teder from 6 Months Later and in this video I'm going to break
down what types of data Google collects from you as a user, what it does with
that data, and whether or not it sells that data to third parties. Let's dive in.
For years now we've been seeing a trend from companies like Apple on how privacy
is paramount and how important it is that Apple doesn't make money off of
your data. In 2020 though it's really hard to use any service that isn't
collecting data on you. You may have bought an iPhone but you're probably
still using apps that collect quite a bit of data on you like Facebook and
Instagram. Now Google is another large company out there that has many apps and
services that do collect data from its users, so I think it's worth asking the
question, what exactly is Google doing with your data? Before we answer that
though I think it's important to know what types of data Google collects from
it's users. According to the company it collects several different types of
information from you, the first is personal information that can include
your name, billing address, email address, and a password that's associated with
your Google account. If you add a phone number or payment information to your
account, that would be considered personal information as well. Google also
collects content that you create upload or receive from others while using
Google services. This includes emails you write and receive, photos and videos that
you save, docs and spreadsheets that you create, and comments that you leave on
YouTube videos. Google also creates information about the apps browsers and
devices you use in order to access Google services. For example if you use a
pixel device like I do, your pixel will periodically ping Google servers and
provide Google with information about your device and connection to various
Google services. This information includes device type, carrier name, crash
reports, and which apps I have installed. Activity is another big area of
data that Google collects such as the terms you search for in Google search,
videos you watch, views and interactions with content and advertisements, voice
and audio information when you use audio features, purchase activity, people who
you communicate with or share content with, activities on third-party sites and
apps that use Google services, and Chrome browsing history you've synced with your
Google account. Google also collects location data information which helps it
offer you services like driving directions through Google Maps. Now how
does Google know your current location? Google uses a variety of sources like
GPS, IP address, sensor data from your devices, and information about things
near your device like Wi-Fi access points, cell towers ,and Bluetooth enabled
devices. Ok so that's a lot of data that Google is collecting from you and I do
want to point out that there are ways for you to limit the amount of data
Google does collect from you but first, I think it's really important to point out
why Google is collecting this data from you in the first place. There are five
main reasons why Google does: this to build better services, maintain and
improve those services, develop new services, provide personalized services
including content and advertisements and measuring performance and communicating
with you. Now the biggest reason by far the Google collects data on its users is
to provide personalized services including content and ads. Targeted
advertising is one of the main ways that Google generates revenue as a company.
Now you may be asking yourself ok so what exactly is targeted advertising?
Unlike in the Mad Men days of advertising when advertisers would pay
to put an ad on TV or in the newspaper and they typically targeted a broad
demographic targeted advertising allows advertisers to target a much more
specific audience. For example as an advertiser I can target a subsection of
the area where I live say Raleigh North Carolina, a specific demographic within
that subsection, say men 18 to 34, and characteristics about that
subsection. So let's say we want to target our ads to men ages 18 to 34 who
are interested in mobile phones, in consumer electronics, and to subscribe to
a mobile network or ISP. Google was one of the first companies that pioneered
this type of advertising because of the data it collects from its users.
Advertisers are willing to pay more for a targeted ad than a general one because
targeted advertisements are thought to do better because they reach an audience
that is more likely to buy the product or service being advertised. It's
important to note that Google will not show you personalized ads based on
sensitive categories like race, religion, sexual orientation, or health. Now it
wouldn't be fair to just talk about Google's data collection practices in
terms of selling its products to advertisers. It is true that in order to
continue to exist, a company like Google needs to generate revenue, but at the
same time they're generating revenue, they also need to make sure they're
providing value to the users whose data they are collecting. So that's why a lot
of the time the data that you give Google is actually used to help you
throughout your day while using Google services. Your data helps Google do
things like get the fastest directions to your destination through Google Maps,
autocomplete searches, find YouTube videos for you to watch, help
autocomplete forms for you in Chrome, help you search through your own
information like appointments on your calendar, or people in your contacts, and
of course the Google assistant would not be as useful as it is without access to
your data. Now as I said before Google does give you some options to turn off
specific features of its data collection. You can opt out of personalized ads as
well as see what categories of interest Google has placed you in, based on the
data it's collected from you. You can turn off specific categories that aren't
relevant to you to make the ads Google shows you more relevant. You also have
the ability to turn off web app activity, location history tracking,
and YouTube history for the purposes of showing you personalized ads. You can
access these settings and more privacy settings by clicking your Google account
profile picture in pretty much any Google application you're in and then
click Manage your Google account. Now let's answer one of the biggest
questions you may have about Google collecting your data, does it sell that
data to third-party companies? In short, no. This is actually one of the biggest
misconceptions people have about Google and their data collection policies.
Google does not sell any of your personal data to third-party companies.
Companies use Google's ad platforms to show you ads that they think will be
relevant to you but those companies themselves do not get the data set that
Google owns, the data Google collects from you is too valuable for Google to
give it away. Google's ad business is one of the primary sources of income for the
company and it's what allows the company to
create such innovative products. Google's proposition for its products and
services is a trade off just like anything else in life. While most of
Google services are free to use you are giving them something of value in return,
which is your data. Now I hope you found some of the information in this video
helpful, if you'd like to learn more about Google's data collection and
privacy policies I'll make sure to leave some helpful links in the video
description below. Now because so much of Google's revenue comes from its ad
business I found that the communication and language the company uses around its
data collection and privacy policies to be quite clear and easy to understand.
Their website is quite well laid out and the language they use is easy to
understand, so definitely check out the links below if you want to learn more. If
you found this video helpful make sure you hit that thumbs up button below and
subscribe to the channel to see more videos on Google, their products and
services, as well as other tech companies too. Well, thank you so much for watching.
For 6 Months Later, I'm Josh Teder.