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Google Quietly Drops Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking

October 24, 2016

So much for anonymous online ad tracking and personal information. When Google bought the DoubleClick advertising network in 2007, it promised to keep the personal information gathered through Gmail and other services separate from DoubleClick's massive database. Well, that separation ended this summer. Google's privacy policy changed to include language stating that browsing habits "may be" combined with what the company learns from the use of Gmail and other tools. By default, the change applies to new Google accounts. Existing users were prompted to opt-in to the change this summer.

If you don't remember being prompted or want to check the current setting, visit your Activity Controls on your Google account page. If you visit the main My Account page, select the 'GO TO MY ACTIVITY' option in the 'My Activity' section. Then select 'Activity controls' in the left side menu. To opt-out of the tracking, uncheck the 'Include Chrome browsing history and activity from websites and apps that use Google services' option.

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