A TikTok video explaining how you can find out everything Google assumes about you based on your online activity has gone viral.
The information includes your age, gender, profession and interests based on what Google has managed to find out about you from how you use its services.
When you use Google products including the search engine and over services such as Gmail, the company collects data to personalise ads specifically for each user in an effort to make them more successful.
This information is available for anybody to see as long as you are logged into a Google account.
How to find out what Google knows about you
In response to a TikTok trend asking users what obscure facts they know because of their job, digital marketer and TikTok user @tiktoktrishkabob caused a huge stir on the video platform.
She said: “So, I’m a digital marketer, and I don’t think anybody realises just how invasive Google is.
“And if you’ve ever thought, “huh, this is a weird ad for me to be seeing” there’s actually a website that you can go to, to see all of the assumptions Google has made about you based on your previous searches.
“So, as long as you’re logged into a device that’s logged into your Google account, type adssettings.google.com into the search bar.
“And here, you’ll be able to see every assumption Google has made about you, and why you see the ads that you see.”
Kabob then goes through her own assumptions that Google has about her, stating that it has her age range, gender identity and parental status correct.
Kabob says: “If you have ever Googled it, it’s somewhere in here.
“You can edit specific factors, like I’m not even quite sure what microblogging is, and you can also turn off ad personalisation altogether. Hooray Big Brother.”
Kabob explains that you can turn off ads for anything that you see in your list. All you need to do is click it and you’ll have the option to turn it off.
You can also turn off ad personalisation all together - the option is available at the top of the web page.
“I’m offended”
The viral video caused quite a stir as this was information a lot of people were completely unaware of.
The video currently has over two million likes and nearly 30,000 comments where users have shared their thoughts and feelings upon discovering what Google thinks about them.
One user wrote: “I’m offended that it estimated me being 55+ - I’m 17!”
Another commented: “Her: ‘This is super invasive and dangerous.’ Me: ‘Haha, personality test go’”
“Google said I’m single, middle aged, alcoholic and a cat lady. I’m 16 and allergic to cats,” said another.
Another user joked: “I’m most offended that it thinks I like country music.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here