Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the clash of interest between ad targeting and privacy. Along with Facebook, Google is one of the two largest advertising platforms in the world. It must keep access to personal data as broad as possible, without being too obvious. Indeed, data retention has a major importance for the search engine, which owes its shareholders to account. Google knows this very well, and is playing on it. And most people don't think about activating it. Despite Google's recent announcement that users can automatically delete their history after 3 to 18 months, be aware that this is an option which needs to be activated. Since then, several security and confidentiality settings have been offered to personalize browsing.Īs well-intentioned as it is, in reality Internet users’ privacy is not protected anymore. Like Facebook, Google recently indicated its willingness to give more control over the privacy, and to post updates on its various tools. In other words, everything that happens in a Google environment is recorded. It also knows what ads you click on, and what you’re buying online. Google knows everything about you: it knows what you’re looking for online, where you plan to travel, events in your calendar, and contacts. They are interesting alternatives that have a lot to offer, not only more privacy, but also great features. That’s why, for several years, other search engines have been emerging. In reality, Google is much more intrusive than it suggests. Google also prides itself as the search engine that respects users’ privacy the most. The Mountain View giant has created its reputation thanks to the power of its algorithms and its various products, which offer Internet users a lot of features. Google accounts for more than 90% of search queries: it dominates the search engine market.