Saturday, August 1, 2015

Why I Hate Google UPDATED

Blogger blogs owners are seeing the message below when they log into their blog.  Many European countries object to the way Google tracks and spies on users of their software and this is their attempt to try and rein the company in.

European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. 

As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. 

You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

Naturally I can't find any such information posted on any of my blogs, even those that don't have anything at all from a third party used behind the scenes.  Once I find it, I will post it here in the right hand column.  Until then, this will have to do.  I've found information stating visiting Blog gives your implied consent to being tracked by Google but I am not certain about that.  So if you are visiting from Europe or a European server, this will have to do for now.

Just be aware Google tracks your every move for their own purposes.  Sadly, the free software I use to run Blog is part of this system.  They have their tentacles into most of the Internet these days so it is going to be very hard for you to avoid being spied on.

UPDATE:  Martin, winner of today's Smart Cookie Award, suggests I visit Blog via it's UK server.  When I do, this is what I see--
http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/why-i-hate-google.html

Clicking on "Got It" will remove the notice at the top of the page forever.

If you have a Blogger blog and want to check this on your device, go to this place to check.
http://    the name of your blog.  blogspot.co.uk

THANK YOU, MARTIN!

Written by Jane/Chilly Hollow
Blogging at http://chillyhollownp.blogspot.com
and at http://chstitchguides.blogspot.com
© Copyright July 29, 2015 Jane M. Wood. All rights reserved.

9 comments:

Sparkly Rock Girl said...

Hi Jane. I read your blog from England and when I visit I get the (for us in the EU) normal banner across the top saying that cookies are in use. You click on "got it" and then the banner disappears. They always used cookies but in the EU they are required to specifically tell you.
Alison, Godalming, UK

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Thanks, Spark! That may mean my European visitors are fine and explains why I can't find any notice on my simple blogs--it may be invisible to me. At least you know what you are getting in to although I think most thinking Internet visitors know that Google (and many other companies and governments) are tracking us everywhere we go for their own purposes.

NCPat said...

I was also puzzled by this note and could not find anything about it either. Thanks for the note!

NCPat said...

Can I link to your info for my blog about this?

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Sure, go ahead and link to this. From what Sparkly Rock Girl says, European visitors will see the notice but blog owners can't. Another reason to hate Google!

Sparkly Rock Girl said...

And just to clarify...if you click the 'got it' button you then will not see the banner the next time you visit the blog on the same device.

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

Thanks, Spark. I think I understood that but it's nice to have it spelled out.

NCPat said...

Thanks for all the info on this!

The Chilly Hollow Needlepoint Adventure said...

No problem! Blog has a lot of foreign readers and I want them to feel they know what is going on here. Martin really solved the issue, though, showing us how to check our blogs to know if we are legal or not.