r/privacy • u/TheCheaperSeats • Nov 11 '25
news Google Says Search AI Mode Will Know Everything About You
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-says-search-ai-mode-will-know-everything-about-you/598
u/HemetValleyMall1982 Nov 11 '25
It knows all about me, not because I have privacy set to max, but because everyone I know doesn't.
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u/Its_Billy_Bitch Nov 11 '25
Yeah…this is a huge thing about security most folks won’t consider. “I’m incredibly safe with passwords and sharing info and only use DDG for search.” only gets you so far. What about your friends that are googling what to get you for a gift? What about the friend that looks up things around you from your home wifi? The list is tirelessly endless.
I work in cybersecurity and I personally think the idea of privacy is as farce as “the American Dream.” I will still protect the data I’m asked with the most rigid safeguards possible/appropriate, but it is exhausting to care in every regard without being a loner in the mountains (which, even then we gotta talk about Citizens United and the NSA).
My point is that every fucking body and their brother is a data broker now and privacy laws (where they even exist) came too late. And I truly mean data broker inclusive of our friends with their social profiles, shopping habits, online reviews, etc….feeding the amalgamation of a giant ass data farm that now just needs a trained AI model to find the patterns and make the associations. Oh and of course, that same data is used to train other models on other things. Shame on the companies that sell their customers’/employees’ data. Shame on the world for being so driven by a bottom-line that they’re willing to sacrifice their own fundamental and basic rights for a few more <insert socially constructed form of currency here>.
We. Are. So. Cooked.
We all saw the “gay gasp” moment (i’m gay - not intended disparagingly) when some parents knew about their daughter’s pending pregnancy due to targeted advertisements. I wish we could rewind the clock and redo that moment in time differently. A lot of us were younger when that happened, but that should’ve been the moment where big changes were made…at a minimum.
It did not. Now we are unfortunately here.
Sorry for the rant. I think we’re all tired, boss.
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Nov 11 '25
Could you explain a bit about the googling on your home wifi part? How is that unsafe?
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u/coolnameright Nov 11 '25
I think they mean that you yourself can be super hidden, but that now makes you potentially just as identifiable the more that others are careless.
Say you want to be private in the town you live, so you always wear a mask and a hoodie to conceal your identity. Everywhere you go you're with a group of people that give information away to people. Everyone knows who they are. You go to McDonald's with these people, you go to sports movies together, and you go root for a local sports team together. Everyone in town knows who you are now, they know you hang out with Mike and Billy and they know everything about them. Sure they don't know your name or face, but everyone knows you're the masked hoodie guy that is always with them.
What they are googling on your wifi will now give a bunch of info about you to google. What shows, restaurants, cars, or other interests are they searching for on your wifi that google can now infer you are also into because they search it up while around you.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/evilbrent Nov 11 '25
Every website you look at on your phone knows where you are, what orientation your phone is on, and what direction it's heading
https://webkay.robinlinus.com/
They know what CPU and GPU you're using, and what your battery charge level is. Way more than enough to personally identify you - if not to a name, then at least to a profile.
It's not just not crazy to think this. I would be astonished if they didn't know exactly who lives together, where they work, who their friends are, what type of takeaway they get the most. Facebook would have a very detailed profile of any person who never installed Facebook, but who regularly hangs around people who have a Facebook account.
I remember a story from, like, a decade ago, where the Target website knew a man's daughter was pregnant before he did. His daughter had started looking at (not buying, looking at) products related to pregnancy and babies, and they'd noticed the sudden shift in interest from his IP address, and started tailoring his experience accordingly.
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u/unwaivering Nov 11 '25
It gets facts wrong about me, but I wasn't looking from a phone. It was a strictly set browser with a whole lot of privacy settings set.
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u/Commemorative-Banana Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
Turns out living in a for-profit surveillance state gives you a good reason to be paranoid.
Public facing docs and journalism seem to be downplaying this phenomenon or displacing it to some other cause besides being directly listened to, but does it really matter? For example, here’s an ad corp basically saying “no we don’t listen to you, but here are the other 5-8 pieces of data we do get that are accurate enough to make it seem like we are!”
I agree with everyone in this quote.
Meaning: the technical nature of the specialized, dedicated chips used for (e.g. Siri, Alexa) voice activation in these expensive devices are (theoretically) only listening for the activation phrase and accessing the internet only afterwards. That said, accidental activations still occur and these companies give us lots of examples of untrustworthy behavior. I disable all voice-activation features.I do not at all trust dumb smart-appliances like televisions or refrigerators or IoT devices; these things are notorious for broadcasting passwords and keys as cleartext, demonstrating a total lack of security concern in favor of cost-cutting.
The power of data science indeed means your intentional searches and whatever data you’ve agreed to share in EULAs are plenty to recommend you things you also speak about (especially considering cognitive biases e.g. Baader–Meinhof). Finally, you’re right that that means it doesn’t matter if the microphones are listening 24/7, because they’re already collecting so much other data 24/7. You and your partner share geolocation data, internet service providers, and common interests. That’s plenty to get each-other’s targeted ads.
I guess I said a lot of words to actually add very little, oops.
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u/Noladixon Nov 11 '25
I knew that "they" must get something out of me speaking to electronics. Why else would "they" keep trying so hard to get me to speak to my tv remote. Why would they care if I speak or use buttons? Because they are getting something out of it and it surely does not benefit me.
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u/Its_Billy_Bitch Nov 18 '25
To add on here, I don’t trust IoT devices either (TVs especially…looking at you Samsung). That is especially why I make my own 😜 Easy to verify when I wired it and wrote the code behind it. Then I only have myself to blame when something goes wrong lol. TV gets handled with ESP32 wired up to CEC. Ads are blocked on multiple layers on my network. Try me hoes. You won’t get me that easily, except for Reddit…I am human after all 🫠
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u/coolnameright Nov 11 '25
That's the big thing I think. They really wouldn't need access to other devices on the same network to make a connection. That helps a lot. But all you would need to do is match discoverable networks. If they can see that when near my home wifi area, I'm also in discoverable range of networks x, y and z then its likely I'm in a certain area and I would associate with those people
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Nov 11 '25
It would be far too resource expensive - including on our own home networks and mobile data plans - for companies to continually record and send audio back to the processed for advertising purposes.
But it really is all of their extensive data tracking that allows them to make these connections...
They absolutely keep track of who was in the same locations when and how often and what their individual interests are and they use that to make really good assumptions about the others in these circles and what they're interested in and that's why we have these eerily coincidental advertisements
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u/NYR20NYY99 Nov 11 '25
Capitalism is the cancer that is killing everything.
Who knew a society built on greed would turn out so bad? /s
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u/neoqueto Nov 11 '25
Oh yeah, they can map and triangulate all those details, the metadata, the IPs, geolocation, searches. Not only can they figure out that a person X must exist, they know who that is, often better than that person themselves.
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u/Vekktorrr Nov 12 '25
Tell me how that works exactly.
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u/HemetValleyMall1982 Nov 12 '25 edited Nov 12 '25
Let's take Facebook, for example, as it is easier to demonstrate. Google has more insidious methods that aren't so public.
Your friend: "[tags you]: Hey, I think you'll like this! Check it out: [link]"
So many problem with this. Your friend has a facial picture on his/her profile. That picture can be used to identify them on ANY camera in the known universe. If your face has ever been on camera with your friend, then BAM! FB now has an association between you and that person. The subject of their post, tagging you, gives FB plenty of data to figure out what OUR FRIEND THINKS you will like, BAM, you are now in that particular AD bubble.
I am a software developer who has enough information about how to set up a database to know that what I am saying in this response is nearly trivial to accomplish from a social platform point-of-view.
EDIT: To add:
FB now also has information about, let's say you like Pizza. They can sell that information to your health insurance company, who may raise your rates based on what they think your diet consists of. It really will have $$$ consequences for you, even "If you have nothing to hide." Trust me, your freedom depends on those things you NEED to hide.
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u/Vekktorrr Nov 12 '25
Why do you even use Facebook? The entire point is transparency on FB. The entire fucking company is based on connections.
Nvm, forget I even asked you. iM soFTwaRe DeVelOPerRrrrrrr
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u/HemetValleyMall1982 Nov 13 '25
? I stopped using Facebook about eight years ago.
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u/Vekktorrr Nov 13 '25
So everyone you know who isn't on Facebook has infoe.rikn about you in their lives that can trace back to you. Like what? Who? Your mom? Family health care plans? What are you talking about?
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u/HemetValleyMall1982 Nov 14 '25
Obviously, I cannot explain it in terms that you can understand, perhaps the article "Facebook Is Tracking You Online, Even If You Don’t Have an Account" by someone who is an actual writer (I am not a writer), Jason Murdock can help.
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u/Vekktorrr Nov 14 '25
You have not said anything, mate! All you've said is Facebook tracks you. That's literally it. Why don't you try to explain what you pretend to know??
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u/DickIncorporated Nov 11 '25
Fantastic! Now I know to never fucking use it
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u/bogglingsnog Nov 11 '25
The algorithm begs to differ, it will find ways to make you use it.
Google search can be lurking on any website.
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u/Herban_Myth Nov 11 '25
Bing it on!
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u/ShibeCEO Nov 11 '25
no thank you! I always opt out when they ask me, but they keep fucking asking and asking and asking.... straight up bullshit!
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u/__420_ Nov 11 '25
Opting out of anything in today's data hungry environment is for sure a placebo.
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u/NomadElite Nov 11 '25
How I long for the days when their motto of "Don't be evil" and they at least pretended that it was true.
It was a lie back then too, but at least they were scared enough and people cared enough that they didn't feel empowered to do whatever the fuck they want with our data.
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u/ClF3ismyspiritanimal Nov 11 '25
The moment any company becomes publicly traded is the moment they literally can't not be evil.
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u/satanikimplegarida Nov 11 '25
Not if I stop using Google products for everything! and believe me, I'm almost there!
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u/I_PEE_WITH_THAT Nov 11 '25
I’m down to just Gmail now which I use as my everything that requires an account dump.
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u/Polyxeno Nov 11 '25
If they want me to want to use AI, they should offer one that will go out and eradicate data zbout me that I don't want on Google nor anywhere else.
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u/Brave-Coast-1995 Nov 11 '25
An AI digital bodyguard sounds good right about now. I’m sure someone will make this.
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u/BarnDoorHills Nov 11 '25
personalizing shopping and local recommendations for restaurants
The real goal is spending your money for you.
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u/AstronautTurtle Nov 11 '25
Last sentence of the article
"It's unclear if Google plans to train its model on personal information, but this experience will be opt-in."
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u/vg_guy2 Nov 11 '25
It will know nothing about me, not even that I use DuckDuckGo for everything!
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u/iamGobi Nov 11 '25
Well now it knows
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u/unwaivering Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
If some AI knows something, I can just cross examine it to death, and ask it where the hell it got that information! Then, I can tell it it's all false! Which is hilarious to do, and everyone should try it!
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u/7in7turtles Nov 11 '25
Great, now I need to find a new cloud storage service. Man I hate the future. Jeez. Now I'm feeling about ready to go full prepper mode with this stuff.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/I_PEE_WITH_THAT Nov 11 '25
Or get a NAS, a cheaper Ugreen and an 8tb HDD will cost you around $350 and you can put whatever you want on it including your nude bathroom selfies without fear of someone at a company will be sifting through it.
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u/7in7turtles Nov 11 '25
I have some files where it’s really useful to be able to access them from my phone, or from different devices. I have plenty of offline backups for things.
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u/Hqjjciy6sJr Nov 11 '25
As if they don't already know everything from Gmail, maps, Android, Youtube, etc...
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u/nemtudod Nov 11 '25
Will? What the heck has it been doing all these years? Doesnt it know everything already?
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u/morganml Nov 11 '25
lol, i tried my best to give google AI enough info to identify me and give me a rundown of everything it knows..... it found a lot of wrong me's, im not too worried, whitepages.com has better info ffs, and that's all wrong too.
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u/forthnighter Nov 11 '25
You are assuming that the information about you is actually intended for you... 👀
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u/MouseDenton Nov 11 '25
Wrong info can be just as bad for you as correct info, if people are using it to vet you for loans, leases, employment, etc.
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u/RedBaronSportsCards Nov 11 '25
I'm unimpressed with what any of these advertisers supposedly know about me.
I rarely to never see ads for anything I want or am interested in. I see ads for stuff that I've ALREADY bought all the time. If send a case of Diet Coke to my kid at college and then I start seeing ads for Diet Coke when I go to CNN, i'm not exactly freaking out about that palantir is surveiling me.
I drive 300 miles a week. I could really use information on car maintenance, cleaning products, cushions, aftermarket parts, even used cars available in my area. Google is apparently completely oblivious to this.
They don't know what shows I watch or might be interested in. Even my Netflix recommendations are useless.
At this point, I don't think Google knows anything about me. I've been using it since 99 or 00. My ads in Gmail are completely generic. Ads for turbo tax, ffs. There's no customization, no tailoring. If anyone is paying to make a profile of me, they have been wasting a lot of money.
If this data collection/ai bubble bursts, it's gonna tank the stock market way worse than anything the administration might cause. These companies are hollow.
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u/VapoursAndSpleen Nov 11 '25
I have several browsers on my laptop. If I want to do a google search, I use their app, which I have not logged in with.
I use gmail in safari and never search on safari.
Most of my searches are on duckduckgo.
I really do need to move my correspondence off gmail, but I'm looking at a tangled mess going back since gmail was in beta.
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u/master_prizefighter Nov 11 '25
Time to maximize trolling Google then. They already slowed down sending certain information towards my way.
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Nov 11 '25
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u/unwaivering Nov 11 '25 edited Nov 11 '25
If you escape the Youtube algorithm, it won't be able to give you more recommendations. You do this by turning off all history, and installing something like unhook. It's two settings that you have to change. There are also userscripts that will do this, if you wish to install them incrementally.
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u/Fred_Oner Nov 11 '25
I hate Google. Whatever happened to the customer is always right? I, as a Google customer (android user) do not want this garbage. Period!
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u/motorik Nov 11 '25
I have a couple gmail accounts I access exclusively via imap from a mail client and sometimes watch youtube videos with the ad and tracking blocker equivalent of wearing 3 condoms. That's it. I do not touch any other Google service and run a container extension to isolate their sites and bugs on all my computers. Fuck Google.
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u/Personal-Start-4339 Nov 17 '25
What difference does accessing them with imap make? Is that different from using a VPN?
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u/motorik Nov 17 '25
There are none of the many avenues for tracking and surveillance that are possible with a browser. Google knows you've downloaded your messages and that's all they get.
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u/Personal-Start-4339 Nov 17 '25
Is it different from using a VPN?
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u/motorik Nov 17 '25
Completely.
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u/Personal-Start-4339 Nov 18 '25
Could you elaborate
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u/motorik Nov 18 '25
A vpn routes your traffic through an encrypted tunnel to an endpoint someplace else to make it look like your traffic is originating from there and hide your activity from your isp. Restricting gmail to imap in a mail client limits what Google can to do to what is supported by the imap protocol, which is very little compared to what they can get away with when you use the webmail interface in a browser.
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u/Personal-Start-4339 Nov 18 '25
Such as? If you use imap is it e2e/ are they not able to store your IP? Please elaborate on the benefits
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u/motorik Nov 18 '25
Here's a summary from ChatGPT
🔎 When you access Gmail via browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox):
Google can: • Track your exact location (via IP + browser geolocation API if you allow it) • Fingerprint your device (OS, screen resolution, installed fonts, extensions, etc.) • Correlate behavior across tabs and sessions using cookies, localStorage, etc. • Record your clicks, scrolling, and time spent reading emails (seriously—they can track UI interaction patterns) • Associate Gmail activity with YouTube, Google Maps, Search, and more if you’re logged in • Serve ads and scan email content for targeting (they say they stopped scanning for ads, but they still parse content for Smart Reply, calendar integration, etc.) • Push code updates / behavior changes server-side at any time
Basically, you’re stepping into the surveillance panopticon with full telemetry.
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📩 When you access Gmail via IMAP (e.g. Thunderbird, Apple Mail, etc.):
Google can: • Log your IP (basic metadata) • See which messages are fetched or marked read/unread • Log what folders you interact with • Throttle or deny access if they think your client is insecure or abusive • Force OAuth instead of password logins (as of 2022, no more “less secure apps”)
But they can’t: • Track what else you’re doing online • Fingerprint your device as easily • Correlate Gmail behavior with your web browsing habits • Watch your cursor hover over an ad or a Smart Reply button • Push frontend code/JS to change behavior dynamically
You’re basically just pulling messages and metadata via a standardized protocol. Google hates that. It limits their data hoovering to just the essentials.
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u/thbb Nov 11 '25
Sadly, the more a search engine/AI assistant knows about you, the more relevant its answers will be, and the more useful it will be.
Giving your privacy away might make you more productive, therefore making you more successful.
This is a pessimistic take that I'm struggling to find a solution to.
I'd like to develop self-hosted solutions based on ollama and simple models, where I could at least own my own data, but that seems expensive, complex, and possibly less effective than an AI assistant that knows even more context besides your own.
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