I just read this article about Google and privacy. Some specifics:
(bolding mine) So, the questionis precisely what can the know about you. I just did a map search with directions to a park in Connecticut last week, so I’m sure they still have that info. And I’m sure they can see what I searched for using the. But how much can they/do they know about my email activity and the sites I visit, or other stuff on my computer? Why is this such a big deal?
Oops. Wrong forum. Can a Mod please move to General Questions?
Thanks.
I had Google move it for me. 
Thank.
The big deal comes in when they violate peoples civil liberties by giving.selling/donating/sharing their info with Big Brother when they ask for it. I’m not saying that google is doing that right now…but I’m not saying they aren’t either.
Imagine: a bigger better google that for a price will give you any info you’d like about say an ex-girlfriend, or cheating spouse.
Me: Google, can I have all the keystroked for Betty Boob between the times of 12 and 3am on the night of March 1st.
Google: Sure, that’ll be $1546.00.
Is that even possible? Now? Can they right now see my emails and my surfing history?
Not only private detective kind of stuff, but how about selling info to advertisers? Looked up the webpage for Godiva Chocolate? Your Gmail account gets an ad from Cadbury. Found listings for realtors? Get 10 offers from companies for new mortgages. Mention B.B. King in an IM? Get a concert notice from Ticketmaster.
And if someone doesn’t think things through all the way, you could get something like AOL’s data release, only now include all of your Gmail contacts and the contents of those emails.
They can certainly see anything in a Gmail account. They have a record of anything you searched for on Google, and any links you clicked on. Does Google have an IM? If so, they could see all those conversations too.
My understanding is that outside of a select few, Google employees are not allowed to see anything that would link a search to a particular user (I’m not sure about email but I would guess it’s a similar situation). They keep logs of searches, of course, but those logs are “scrubbed” of any identifying information. If you enter query A on Tuesday and query B on Wednesday, they have no way of knowing that those two queries were entered by the same person. To become part of the select few that do have access to any identifying information, you have to pass multiple security clearances.
So basically, they have a lot of information about your interaction with Google, but they don’t have any easy way to link it to you in particular.
The problem with the AOL logs was that they didn’t scrub them: the queries were linked to an ID number that uniquely identified the user entering them. Given a set of queries entered by the same user, it was fairly easy to narrow it down to a particular person.
If you use GMail they can certainly see your emails.
How about non-Gmail accounts? For instance I am on Mac using Mac Mail. At an office I might use a Mac and Entourage.
No, the article just means your Gmail email account. Google can no more track your other email accounts than a teenager hacker in his mom’s basement can track your other email accounts. That is, they CAN, but they’d be seriously violating the law if they did so, and would face all sorts of legal trouble. But how can Google avoid tracking your google email, when they are the ones who provide google email? They have to keep your email in a database, otherwise they can’t provide email service. Now, the question comes, how much access should other parts of the company have to that database? Obviously, a human sitting down and reading your email (absent a court order) is wrong. But what about things like finding patterns in the addesses you sent mail to? Or patterns in what times you sent mail? What if all PII is stripped out of the report before any humans get to see it?
Depends.
If you work at Google then they probably do know alot about you. Heh. Would Googling count as wasting time at work? I’d be a cool job. The only downside is they would potentianlly know all your online activity.
That’s why you always do a few stupid searches per day. What gets me is I was involved in a research project for a class and I found out when sites refuse to let you in before you register most people (in my sample it was over 85%) gave their CORRECT information.
I have a throwaway gmail account for ads and registrations (like newspapers) and I always give them the wrong information, about salary, gender race etc.
But most people do not.