qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 4, 2011 https://www.google.com/ Note the "s" in "https". This is useful to help prevent your ISP from seeing what you are searching for and potentially saving these searches in your log files for years. If you are at work this may also help stop your employer from spying on you. If they use keystroke loggers this will not help. If you are using a wifi spot this helps keep your searches private. Doubt this would stop the government from seeing what you are searching for but it might make this data retrieval too tedious for them to bother with. Then again depends on what government agency you are talking about. You should never expect 100% privacy with anything you do on the internet. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest S*rca****sid Report post Posted October 4, 2011 https://www.google.com/ Note the "s" in "https". This is useful to help prevent your ISP from seeing what you are searching for and potentially saving these searches in your log files for years. If you are at work this may also help stop your employer from spying on you. If they use keystroke loggers this will not help. If you are using a wifi spot this helps keep your searches private. Doubt this would stop the government from seeing what you are searching for but it might make this data retrieval too tedious for them to bother with. Then again depends on what government agency you are talking about. You should never expect 100% privacy with anything you do on the internet. Google has been offering this for a couple of years. In addition, I would suggest that anyone who uses Firefox (https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/) install the add-on "https everywhere". This extension will make sure that all your connections will be secure if it is available. Ex. banks, facebook, twitter, email, ect... Anyone still using Explorer should switch, after all, the 90's are over! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phaedrus 209521 Report post Posted October 5, 2011 It should be noted, though, that Google still knows what you're up to. But then, Google probably knows everything about you already. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
April Dawn 12207 Report post Posted October 5, 2011 Google definetly does! When I signed up for google plus it used a old email that I used to use and didn't want to switch it over even though I got an invite and signed up with a different one! Posted via Mobile Device Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 9, 2011 There are a bunch of privacy settings that you can set with Google like the "Ads preference manager" - by default you are given ads based on your historic searches. You need to check them periodically because they're always "tweaking" things for your "convenience". http://www.google.ca/intl/en/privacy/tools.html Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Summer Meadows 1676 Report post Posted October 15, 2011 Is this like 'inprivate browsing" in explorer? "InPrivate Browsing helps prevent Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data. Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default. See Help for more information." I've always wanted to try firefox. Can someone list some differences between the two? Pros and cons? I do not use google at all unless I can't find it on yahoo. Even my youtube account is in my yahoo email addy and password. :) Just personal preference I guess, right? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 15, 2011 Is this like 'inprivate browsing" in explorer? "InPrivate Browsing helps prevent Internet Explorer from storing data about your browsing session. This includes cookies, temporary Internet files, history, and other data. Toolbars and extensions are disabled by default. See Help for more information." I've always wanted to try firefox. Can someone list some differences between the two? Pros and cons? I do not use google at all unless I can't find it on yahoo. Even my youtube account is in my yahoo email addy and password. :) Just personal preference I guess, right? No, inprivate browsing is just what is stored (or not) on your computer. The HTTPS/SSL encryption is for what is transmitted between your computer and google. Every browser has it's advantages and disadvantages, at least until the other guys add in the latest and greatest features re-leveling the playing field. The fanboy's (and fangirl's) will claim that whatever browser, computer, etc. they use is the only thing that anyone should use. Me, I use internet explorer, it gets the job done and I know that it works and all websites are optimized to use it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted October 21, 2011 http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Google-Makes-HTTPS-Encryption-Default-for-Search-371629 Google said it is making HTTPS security via SSL encryption the default option among searchers who are signed in, which should delight privacy buffs afraid of referrals floating around. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Oct. 18 said it will begin redirecting most of users signed into their Google accounts to the HTTPS version of Google.com, which encrypts searches that users perform, as well as the results. The encryption comes courtesy of SSL (Secure Socket Layer), a security standard used by most banking and e-commerce Websites. Google began using SSL as the default setting for Gmail in January 2010 after it learned that Gmail had been hacked in China. The company then began offering encrypted search at https://encrypted.google.com for those who wanted to try it in May 2010. With search becoming more personalized--that is, tailored to specific users' preferences based on their previous searches--Google said it has become more important to shore up search results directed to users. This is especially true at a time when more users are accessing Google search from unsecured WiFi connections, such as mobile hotspots at Starbucks and other cafes with Internet access. What this means is that when users use https://www.google.com to search, Websites such as Amazon.com, eBay and others will know that users came from Google and will receive an aggregated list of the top 1,000 search queries that propelled traffic to their Website over the past month. These Websites won't receive any info about specific queries individuals make, such as what they searched for, when and from what computer. However, users who elect to click on an ad appearing on a Google search results page will still send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns and to improve the ads they present to users. Search Engine Land offers plenty more on how this change works. "We hope that today's move to increase the privacy and security of your Web searches is only the next step in a broader industry effort to employ SSL encryption more widely and effectively," wrote [/url]Google search Product Manager Evelyn Kao. Many Internet companies that didn't already rely on HTTPS have begun adding the security layer to their Websites. Facebook added HTTPS support in January 2011 and Twitter added HTTPS support in March. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
