People Divulge The Most Unsettling Data They Discovered That Google Stored About Them
"Big Brother is watching you..."
The famous words from George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984, which tells the story of a world governed by omnipresent surveillance.
Today, however, many people are under increased paranoia that their every step is being monitored by the government, or by the world's largest corporations.
Not helping their fears, is when people look back on information collected by their Google data, and see that virtually every step they've taken has been documented.
Even things some people might not remember doing themselves.
"People who downloaded their Google data and went through it, what were the most unsettling things you found out they had stored about you?"
Followed My Every Step...
"That there is a map of everywhere I went in the last couple of years that's accurate to the hour."- Crank05
Context Is Everything...
"There's an audio recording of me saying 'check the Jewish boy's penis',"
"I don't remember ever saying that but ok."- MrPingeee
They Don't Always Get It Right...
"I'm the vice-president of a company that I've never heard of, and can't find any other info on it."- leavingdirtyashes
"Apparently I sleepwalk thousands of kilometers and then manage to get back home in time for work."
"Also a bunch of recordings of my computer's fan spinning."
"Ah, Google."
"Hyped up Google."
"Incompetent Google. "
"I know my data is in good hands."- Carkudo
Black And White Cartoon GIFGiphyYou Can't Erase Everything...
"If you use Google Photos and allow Maps to track your location:"
"I took photos that I didn't like, deleted them."
"Weeks later I am just browsing my timeline in Google Maps and those deleted photos are there, tagged to the location."
"Nothing incriminating, just thought you should know that a delete isn't a delete."- kinobe
They Don't Miss A Thing...
"It's not unsettling but I found out that Google can tell when I'm driving a car vs my motorcycle by using the gyroscopes in my phone."- Xtremegulp
It's Not Just Google
"It wasn’t google data that shocked me, I am kind of expecting it to know everything about me."
"This came from instagram."
"My period was very late, so naturally, I told my husband in our very private and quiet home setting, and bought a Clearblue pregnancy test."
"We don’t own tv, Amazon Alexa , google voice or similar."
"I just have reddit and Instagram on my smartphone."
"My period was just late, but the very next day I got bombarded by ads on Instagram about Clearblue and other pregnancy sticks and some other baby sh*t."
"There is no way that it was a coincidence since it was the second time getting a very, very specific ad."
"So the app is listening, and showing me ads accordingly."- lagattaca
Blood Celebrate GIF by Halfsquare DesignsGiphySelective Storage
"Recordings of conversations with my boss over two years."
"I don't know why it only had recordings of us talking and no one else."- FiveOhFive91
Careful What You Say...
"Definitely the voice recordings."
"That should be turned off by default instead of needing to be changed by the user."- mahoujosei100
They Waste No Time...
"All phone activity, opened app, closed app etc, from the very first day I owned my phone, constant check of my GPS, constant check of my device orientation."
"If someone steals your google account, they basically can found out everything there is to find out about you."- linecraftman
Who Dis Star Wars GIF by LEGOGiphyIt is helpful to have an online cloud to store things, saving you paper and stress of remembering where you put it.
What's a bit frightening is that Google and other services are starting to get one step ahead of us when it comes to what they document.
Leaving one to wonder if Big Brother is, in fact, watching us…
Doctors Share Their Patients' Worst Cases Of 'So, I Googled My Symptoms...'
Stay Away from the damn WEBMD!!
Staying healthy can be a daunting task. None of us wants bad news but we have to keep checking in with the body to make sure it's still functioning. Trying to figure out the best way to stay alive can be anxiety inducing. Not every headache and joint pain is cancer but.... sometimes it's something worse. Try to err on the side of caution, see a doctor, WebMD may be right once in a blue moon but it's not what you should rely on.
Redditor Oof_Padoof wanted to hear about all the best reasons why none of us should self diagnose through the world wide web and just get to the doctor by asking...
Doctors of Reddit, what is your worst case of "I googled my symptoms?"
27....
"Had a patient come in and tell us she is having vision issues that are new. Ok lets have a look........ oh, looks like you placed a contact over a contact...... 27 times." Darkdemonmachete
That was a horrible experience.
Giphy"I had a UTI, because I had the symptoms and Googled it. Day of doctor appointment, it was just a regular check up. But I asked for a UTI test since I explained how I was feeling. Convo went like this:"
"could it be possible to request a UTI testing? I've been feeling the symptoms of burning when I pee and some discomfort-"
"how do you feel now? Any pain?"
"well no not at the -"
"well if you did have a UTI the symptoms wouldn't go away you are fine"
"2 or so days later I get a full blown kidney infection from a, who would have guessed, a UTI. sent out a complaint, forget that doctor. I always ask for a test if I am suspicious of anything and I have them document it if they say no from now on. That was a horrible experience." chile-con-limon
This confuses the heck out of me.
"This confuses the heck out of me. When I go to a doctor they specifically ask if I've done research about whatever, like they expect it. Awkward position cause if I have researched I feel like an idiot using Dr Google and having medical student syndrome, if I haven't researched I get the distinct impression nice disappointed the doc." FluroJacket
Back Issues...
"Not a doctor, but my friend once said a guy came with a backache and wanted to get operated coz he thought he had kidney failure." The_RageHound
The Leg Feels...
"Ever since we studied multiple sclerosis in Neuro, I'm convinced I have it, despite my only symptom being parestesis (funny feelz) in my legs at night." Interferonno2fan
Deja Vu...
Giphy"Not a doctor, but throughout my childhood and teen years I had these weird episodes where I would suddenly have really bad Deja Vu and get very nauseous. For the next few hours afterward I would feel like I was in a fog and my memory would be shit. Eventually I googled my symptoms and learned they might be minor epileptic seizures."
"I went to a doctor and he laughed it off and told me it was probably just having panic attacks related to the normal emotions of being a teenager. I was so sure he was wrong that I opted to go get an EEG - turns out I have a mild form of epilepsy and google was totally right." mambo_number_69
You seem Heavier...
"Not a doctor, but the brother of the patient... and "worst" being on the money. My older sister diagnosed herself as having symptoms of systematic heart failure. Her new primary doctor agreed and gave her some basic guidelines of what to do, and had her visit her cardiologist. The cardiologist pooh-poohed her, saying there was probably nothing to worry about and scheduled a test in a few days just to be on the safe side."
"One of the things her primary had her looking out for was sudden weight gain, and when she woke up two days later suddenly 6 pounds heavier, we went straight to the emergency room, who ran tests, including an echocardiogram. Her injection fraction was 12, and they immediately sent her to the biggest hospital in the area, where they ended up saving her life from congestive heart failure. She had had at least two silent heart attacks due to the amount of damage they found." lostjaggi
Easy Fix.
"Not a doctor but I was having horrible debilitating headaches for awhile, googled my symptoms and they ranged from stress to brain cancer. Ended up being sinusitis." hangryguy
Not the Nipple...
"I had an insect bite basically next to my nipple. It was itching like crazy, and my usual bite cream said not to be used on nipples, so I decided to Google what else I could do to relieve it. Found out that apparently no one else has ever had an insect bite on their nipple, but that what looks like an insect bite on or right next to your nipple is almost certainly inflammatory breast cancer. Phoned up my GP (we used to be neighbors so I kind of knew him) and was in a right state because I thought I had this incredibly aggressive form of breast cancer. He listened to me for a minute, asked a couple of questions and then said, "It's an insect bite. Come back to me if it's still there in three weeks. Oh, and try deodorant on it."
"The deodorant calmed it right down, and it had gone by about five days afterwards." The_Sown_Rose
dUDE....
Giphy"Not really related to this topic, but I am a medical student.. and recently got stye in my eye. Stye is usually self- diagnosable but I called up my cousin who is a doctor just to confirm... Anyways, when I was telling this incident to one of my friends, he started scolding me saying as a medical professional, I should set the example of going to the doctor and getting proper medicines and treatment and all I could say was, "dude, I'm becoming a doc, I know how doctors are" Doctors especially when they know you're a medical student tend to over diagnose or pretend as if we have "medical student syndrome". But anyways, got the meds and my eye's healing 😁." jamiejohn21
Serious answer:
Giphy"I try to ask my patients if they have googled their symptoms. It gives me a lot of information about what they are worried about. I then try to stay humble about their findings, and try to not be a jerk about that. Trust is not built by telling people they are stupid. However, it is hard to keep a straight face when a 50-year old male walks in and says "I think I have caught the Down's syndrome", or when a young women thought she had testicular cancer." Santy924
Oh Jack. Is that you?
"I had a grade school kid tell me he had a brain tumor. Turns out he put a dried bean in his ear and forgot about it."
"Edit: Okay, wow. Well, to answer a few questions, the kid was 9 or 10, so no stupider than your average 9 or 10 year old. He didn't really have a reason why, but they'd been using beans for some counting thing in math at school. I don't know what kind of bean it was- small and red. It came out with tweezers. This was years ago and he has probably forgotten all about it, unless his mom reminds him periodically (I would.)" jcb42x
Surprise!!
"Paramedic student here. Last week we had a call for an imminent delivery. Pt started having abdominal pain that would last a little bit and stop. And about 2-3 min later would start again. She googled her symptoms and everything she found was saying she was in labor. She called her husband and he told her to call 911. We walked in as the baby was crowning. She had no idea she was pregnant." jesus-christ-of-ems
"Do you even know what gestational means?"
"Not a doctor, but I had a coworker come into the office with this one. He was having nausea, fatigue, frequent urination and decided to WebMD that crap. We're chatting in the office one day and he says something like "Yeah, I've been feeling like poop lately, and it sounds like gestational diabetes but I can't find any cases of men getting it." I just slowly lowered my head into my hand and asked him "Do you even know what gestational means?" He did not." dalgeekdalgeek
The Crackle...
Giphy"Not a doctor but when my fiance said he was having chest pains and when he breathed, it crackled, I googled and all of the symptoms lead to serious illnesses such a collapsed lung. Thought nothing of it, diagnosed it ourselves as an allergy and didn't go to a doctor till later in the day. It was in fact a fully deflated collapsed lung." charli1409
Feel the Crave....
"Not a doctor but worked at a hospital for a while. One of our doctors came back to the nurses station laughing because someone was fully convinced they were diabetic because they were "craving" water and webmd said that makes them diabetic. Turns out they are just human and require it to live." kiesertomasi
Impressive.
"Actually am a doctor, but this story is from medical school:"
"I had a patient who correctly diagnosed herself with mastitis, although she was very worried that she had inflammatory carcinoma of the breasts. To be fair, they can look similar."
"Another time, I had a patient correctly diagnose a lump in her breast as a fibroadenoma. I was very impressed." Reddit
So Many Groin Issues...
"This is in the occupational health field and we had a young gentleman come in who was pretty sure he had a groin hernia according to his Google search. He said he'd been lifting produce crates and experienced sharp, overwhelming pain in his groin. The doctor came back out after seeing him and was clearly fighting laughter by the time he got to the desk. Turns out the kid had Chlamydia which had caused things to become swollen and just happened to get symptomatic while he was at work." OmnoraMayday
Don't Leave.
"In 2013 i was feeling awful. Shaking, puking/dry heaving, shaking, excruciating and debilitating pain. Went to the ER had blood work done that I never knew what it said and the doctor told me it was a gallbladder attack, gave me pain meds and sent me home. Three days later I was even worse. Couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, the only relief I felt was when I was in scalding hot bath."
"I finally went back to the ER and they did more blood work and told me my gallbladder was septic and my pancreatic enzymes were 6500 and rising (they should have only been 100-150) and I was dying. I was admitted and when they did my gallbladder removal, my gallbladder was solid black and had 80 stones and a tar like substance from sepsis. Come to find out the first time I went to the ER my enzymes were 2000, I should never have been allowed to leave the hospital." AngelFears1676
Brain Matters.....
Giphy"Not a doctor but I deal with migraines. I would not be surprised if someone experienced a migraine for the first time, googled their symptoms while they still had the clarity to do so, and went to the ER thinking they are having a stroke." spaghatta111
While the web can be a great resource, it's best to go a real medical professional for any diagnoses.
Do you have similar experiences to share? Let us know in the comments below.
In the days before Safesearch, every google search was kind of a gamble.
But these days, we still have a little surprise here and there to deal with. Sometimes your search for "tornadoes" shows up breasts. Nobody is really sure why, but, it does.
And those times are always the worst times to do it--when someone is standing over your shoulder, usually.
u/Saraieth asked:
What is an innocent sounding Google search that returns not so innocent results?
Here were some of those answers.
That's No Wand
Halloween is coming, needed an accessory for little girls 'good witch' costume. Did an image search for a magic wand. Seems most of them have to be plugged in.
Not A Poster
Back in high school I googled "motivational poster." This was in the school library, so safe search was preset to strict and everything.
3rd image was straight up porn. I think google's gotten smarter about it now, but 10 years ago that kind of ish would slip through all the time.
A New Kind Of Coding
If you're in the mindset of trying to format mathematical expressions in an image using open source software, latex gimp.
And std list when you're trying to find documentation on the C++ standard library list data structure
And I OOP
Black holes. In 9th grade we learned about space in science class and we each had to do a presentation on certain space related topics. Our teacher specifically told the student that was researching black holes to be careful what he clicked on when he went online.
Walked Right Into This
One time in my science class a long time ago, we were studying minerals and the teacher said to google cleavage. it did not return mineral cleavage.
Woody The Woodpecker
Oh man. Once I went looking for these awesome toys I had as a kid on Google. Big mistake.
When we were good in class, we could earn a reward of a toy from this little bag of cheap plastic toys my teacher had. Well, at some point she found these really cool little plastic woodpeckers that could slip over the end of your pencil and as you wrote, they would bounce on a tiny spring, as if they were pecking the wood of the pencil. Really neat.
So I remembered one day and I went to Google to see if I could find them and searched under their name, "pencil peckers."
Big mistake.
Double Meanings
My mom once stated that cheetahs and cougars were the same animal.
I searched pictures of cheetahs with no problem.
We had to have a talk after searching for cougars.
The Wrong Denotation
At one point in my life, my favorite song was Evil Angel by Breaking Benjamin. I had it stuck in my head, and couldn't remember how it went. So I googled it.
The kind of songs I used to listen to, being the emo little jerk that I was, were usually really ridiculous titles that you didn't have to put in the name of the artist with, or even specify that you wanted lyrics, and that's what I got used to. Just searching the song title.
It has since been changed, but do you know what the first thing that came up was when I searched 'Evil Angel'?
A link to a hardcore porn website called Evil Angel.
The Last Thing You Want To See
I specialise in animal behavioural ecology and I focus on large carnivores. When I began specialising in this subject (so this began with doing my Masters research years ago) I would look up images of the species I was studying for powerpoint presentations. I would often put the word art in when it came to extinct species. With that being said, I was absolutely unaware on how prevalent furry art is.
What Kind Of Stoves?
One of the loan officers at the bank I work for was just telling me this story, actually. He was chatting with a customer about Longfellow stoves, and they were wondering if they were still in business. He pulls up the first site he sees, and manages to trigger every alarm system set up on the computer system.
Google is releasing 53 new gender-fluid emoji as part of a beta release for their Pixel smartphones this week.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fast Company, Android emoji director Jennifer Daniel said the move is part of an effort to make the symbols more inclusive:
"We're not calling this the non-binary character, the third gender, or an asexual emoji — and not gender neutral. Gender neutral is what you call pants. But you can create something that feels more inclusive."
Google releases 53 gender fluid emoji Sujet super intéressant (et je les trouve assez réussis)… https://t.co/g1fDgIQ1ws— Marc Pédeau (@Marc Pédeau) 1557334860
Daniel sits on the Unicode consortium, the organization that sets core emoji standards like gender that designers at tech companies use to create their own emoji.
Last year, she noted that there were 64 emoji that were never meant to signify gender per Unicode's standards.
And that's where things got complicated, as Fast Company points out:
"Yet Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, and, yes, Google, have often assigned genders with their designs for these emoji. It's why every construction worker across major operating systems is, by default, is a man. Unicode's standards dictated a construction 'person,' but tech companies decided to design them as construction men (and add women as a secondary option)."
That practice reinforces stereotypes, so Google decided to address the problem. Some emojis, like the merperson emoji, now have genderless mid-length hair.
The vampire emoji now sports an androgynous chain instead of a bowtie, while its female iteration dons a choker necklace.
Google is adding 53 gender-fluid emoji to Android Q https://t.co/V5fb7u7ZH4— Shahid Ansari (@Shahid Ansari) 1557396643
Daniel admits that there is "no singular way of getting it right" but says the challenge was not one that could be avoided:
"Gender is complicated. It is an impossible task to communicate gender in a single image. It's a construct. It lives dynamically on a spectrum. I personally don't believe there is one visual design solution at all, but I do believe to avoid it is the wrong approach here."
"We can't avoid race, gender, any other number of things in culture and class. You have to stare it in the face in order to understand it. That's what we're trying to do–to [find] the signifiers that make something feel either male or female, or both male and female."
The project has already received praise.
In which @jenniferdaniel demonstrates why she is the very best kind of human! Gender neutral emoji on principle.. i… https://t.co/Tw5sJMuZ4i— Tea Uglow 🏳️⚧️ (@Tea Uglow 🏳️⚧️) 1557369958
Kudos to @jenniferdaniel of Google for driving release of gender neutral emoji to reflect genderless words like… https://t.co/HHeq5NJisc— Emojination (@Emojination) 1557278233
I support this 100% but these emoji are literally all just me. https://t.co/Ch7nRtwdkP— Alex (@Alex) 1557421880
Ths is incredibly cool https://t.co/BSArRSiX5x— Lightning (@Lightning) 1557350552
The new emoji will roll out to all Android Q phones planned for later in 2019.
Because Google collaborates with Apple and other tech companies when developing emojis, other companies will likely release their own versions of these emojis in the future.
The Next Batch Of New Emojis Is All About Inclusion And Accessibility
All new emojis must be approved by the Unicode Consortium, which often receives submissions from companies like Apple and Google on what the next emojis should be. In a victory for the disabled and LGBTQ+ communities, the Consortium has announced 2019's new emojis will include many symbols centered around inclusion.
230 new emoji released in move to make characters more inclusive https://t.co/yQZpjcKplz https://t.co/Z5gt35EtTj— ITV News (@ITV News) 1549456458
NEW EMOJI: Next batch of emoji includes people with #disabilities, guide dog https://t.co/CX7LazZd0r What else wou… https://t.co/jkk47ladVe— Lane Luckie (@Lane Luckie) 1549450800
Apple requested last year that the list of emojis include more diverse, inclusive symbols.
Their request was definitely heard!
The Unicode Consortium has announced its final list of approved emoji for this year. The new batch of emoji include… https://t.co/Ex1QPg9wy4— Daniel Fleshbourne (@Daniel Fleshbourne) 1549442765
Other new emojis include a computer, a planet, and... AN OTTER!
New emojis approved in #emoji12 will come to operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows), apps (WhatsApp) and web pla… https://t.co/s0uvG1idMS— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549397892
But the big ticket items among emoji lovers have definitely been the guide-dogs, deaf individuals, and non-binary couples.
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Guide Dog https://t.co/CmxJuQQ2dt https://t.co/iNJ3801EUF— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549406419
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Man With Probing Cane https://t.co/07pUddbzeh https://t.co/xCDLIIeFQB— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549409083
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Manual Wheelchair https://t.co/m5l7plNTzY https://t.co/2N1epGOKHv— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549410936
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Ear With Hearing Aid https://t.co/JVWXvLpsat https://t.co/zRhowm9yj6— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549414728
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Deaf Man https://t.co/UKgIdSdSar https://t.co/wgcx70xaTd— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549417976
The new emojis feature non-binary couples with almost any mix of races.
✅ Approved in #emoji12: People Holding Hands. Gender neutral / gender inclusive, with mixed skin tone support… https://t.co/z3KjsYSh48— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549424818
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Mixed Skin Tone Support for Men Holding Hands (👬) https://t.co/APoF9en9Em— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549433936
✅ Approved in #emoji12: Mixed Skin Tone Support for Women Holding Hands (👭) https://t.co/fbcfKmAiPa— Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻 (@Emojipedia 🇺🇦🌻) 1549432693
While these steps are definitely important, many Twitter users were most excited about a certain other emoji...
More excited than I should be about the incoming addition of this emoji. But more amazing news is that accessibili… https://t.co/ivNeefM6X5— Uma Kumaran (@Uma Kumaran) 1549457452
There are non-binary people represented in the 2019 emoji! Also wheelchair users, service dogs, and even more impor… https://t.co/k79YG2Nqou— Laurie Voss (@Laurie Voss) 1549423733
@seldo My non-binary service otter will be so pleased!— Marion Cotesworth-Haye (@Marion Cotesworth-Haye) 1549423859
@unicode Finally https://t.co/89vVEfVW9r— Lucy (@Lucy) 1549399341
In general, social media was glad to see a new, more inclusive set of emojis.
LOOK AT ALL THE NEW DISABILITY EMOJI!!!!! THIS IS GOOD! https://t.co/uEkVkNzOWo— Jamie-Leigh (@Jamie-Leigh) 1549447568
The new emojis should become available along with an upcoming software update. Congratulations to Apple and the Unicode Consortium for taking steps to improve disabled and LGBTQ+ representation!