How Old Google Thinks You Are (And How To Be Anonymous)

You know Google, right? Yeah, that big internet company that delivers the best online advertising service in the world. Well turns out they're good at it because they're even better at monitoring you and everything you do online.  They use cookies to monitor your web usage to see what sites you visit. That way they know what ads to show you based on what you may be interested in. 

This is copied from straight from my Ads Preferences section in my Google account:

Your demographics

We infer your age and gender based on the websites you've visited.

Age: 25-34

Gender: Male

Looks like Google is doing a pretty good job (and I'm acting my age when on a computer). Some people may "Hey! That's invasion of privacy!" Well, in all fairness, Google is not the first company to use cookies to monitor you. You know that other service called Facebook? Well let's just say they LOVE it when you use their site and then go around the internet looking at other sites. It's how they make money. That's how a lot of online services make money.

Now before you go running into your parents basement, shutting off the power to your house and start wearing a tin foil hat there are a few things you can do to prevent all this snooping.

1. You Can Opt-Out: If you go to Google's Privacy Preferences in your account you can Opt-Out. To add more piece of mind you can install the Google Chrome plug-in that will keep you opted-out of interest-based ads from all NAI member companies. 
2. Block All the Big Brothers: Use the "Choose All Companies" feature to opt out from all currently participating companies in one step. HERE

If neither one of those options let you sleep better at night, then download Tor. Tor is free software and an open network that helps you defend against a form of network surveillance that threatens personal freedom and privacy, confidential business activities and relationships, and state security known as traffic analysis.


If you have any other tips, leave them in the comments.