Slamming the Door on Google Account Surveillance
Reducing Surveillance of your Google Account to reclaim activity privacy
When online services are free, the product becomes us, the users! Who are the actual customers if we are the product? Online advertisers and data brokers are the actual customers of Google, Facebook/Meta, and other major platforms. Google has built such a ubiquitous online advertising empire, that the U.S. Department of Justice brought an antitrust lawsuit against them resulting in a judgement on August 5, 2024 declaring that "The court reaches the following conclusion: Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,"
How did Google accomplish this? One of several ways by surveilling user activity of its plethora of "free" services. Every user of Google services agrees to surveillance in its convoluted Terms of Service pages prior to acquiring access to a particular service. Google has added software sensors in its accounts and services which aggregate those inputs to build exhaustively intrusive profiles of each of us for sale within is advertising network. The process has become so successful, that Google has found a way to print money in perpetuity.
Google's Chrome web browser extensive surveillance has been covered in my previous post detailing the user data collected and recommendations to switch to alternative privacy-focused browsers.
My standard web browser is Brave, which has Leo AI built-in. I asked Leo for a definitive list of free Google services, including a numeric count, and it returned 30 services. Microsoft CoPilot AI returned 36 free Google services. The common denominator in all these services is your Google Account and its privacy settings. Therefore, your first step in reducing Google surveillance is using the settings available to disable as many Google Account sensor settings as possible, resulting in less of your usage activity being recorded into your Google profile.
Here is the checklist I use to regularly review my Google Account settings. My recommendation is to review these settings quarterly, as Google makes new services available, upgrades existing services from time to time, or as you sign up for new Google services. This review should be a regular part of your own periodic online security and privacy review processes.
Google Account Settings Review
1. Review Activity History
Log in to your Google Account
Go to My Activity
Turn off data collection for Web & App activity, Location history, and YouTube history
If keeping history, set auto-delete to 3 months
2. Disable Ad Personalization
Visit Google My Ad Center
Turn off ad personalization to prevent tracking-based ads
3. Turn Off Shared Endorsements
Find this setting under “People & Sharing” in Google Account
Disable endorsements to prevent Google from using your profile in ads
4. Check Location Sharing
Review who has access to your location
Disable unnecessary location sharing
5. Secure Calendar Settings
Go to Calendar settings
Restrict access to only trusted individuals
6. Manage Google Family Group
Review members and adjust sharing settings as needed
7. Review 3rd Party App Connections
Navigate to “Connections” in Google Account
Remove apps that no longer need access to your data
8. Turn Off Additional Tracking
Access “Other Activity” in My Activity
Disable tracking for YouTube interactions, Google Photos facial recognition, and more
9. Check Google Fit Data Sharing
Adjust privacy settings to restrict unnecessary data sharing
10. Audit Your Google Services
Review all active Google services at least quarterly
Remove or disable unused services
Prioritizing Google Account Settings
To determine which steps are most important for your Google privacy settings, consider these factors:
1. Data Sensitivity – If a setting involves highly personal data, such as location history or search activity, it's a higher priority.
2. Exposure Risk – Some settings, like shared endorsements or third-party app access, expose your data to others. These should be reviewed first.
3. Usage Patterns – If you rarely use a Google service, you may not need extensive personalization settings turned on.
4. Privacy vs. Convenience – Some restrictions may limit Google features. Prioritize the settings that maximize privacy without disrupting your workflow.
5. Default Risks – Certain Google settings collect data by default. Turning off unnecessary collection is a top priority.
Top-Priority Privacy Settings Adjustments
1. Adjust My Google Activity
Most critical: Turn off --> Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History
If keeping history, enable auto-delete every 3 months
Delete existing history under “Delete Activity By”
2. Disable Personalized Ads
Go to Google My Ad Center
Turn off ad personalization to stop targeted ads
3. Limit 3rd-Party App Access
Check "Connections" in Google Account settings
Remove apps that don’t need access to your data
4. Manage Location Sharing
Ensure no unintended location sharing is enabled
Medium-Priority Settings
5. Turn Off Shared Endorsements
Located under “People & Sharing” in Google Account
Prevent Google from using your profile in ads
6. Restrict Google Family Group Access
Review members & what’s shared with them
7. Secure Google Calendar
Limit access to only trusted individuals
8. Disable Extra Tracking in Google Services
Review "Other Activity" settings in My Google Activity
Turn off tracking for YouTube, Google Photos, Google Pay, etc.
Lower-Priority But Useful Settings
9. Check Google Fit Data Sharing
Adjust privacy settings to restrict unnecessary data sharing
10. Audit Your Google Services Usage
Review all active Google services and remove unused ones
There is no way to completely disable Google Account surveillance other than closing the account and removing your legacy stored data. I've used Gmail for 20 years, so there is no way I will delete all that activity and those memories. This situation is an illustration of "vendor lock-in". There are many of us in this predicament. All we can do is toggle the available account switches to reduce the data collected about us.
Adjust your Google Account settings today so you can reclaim your privacy while using Google Services.
