Your Privacy

Lately I have been thinking about writing information on my blog about some computer/internet things that some of my readers might have some use for.  I don't want to bore you with alot of technical details, but when you use email, internet, and online social media, there are things that everyone should be aware of, and make the best use of....

Even though you prefer to quilt or crochet or do other sorts of crafting, I am sure that you use your computer and its connections to the world wide web. Many of you have cell phones of various types that can keep you online even when you are away from your home computer.   The world is changing, and it is changing FAST!  You can't really ignore some of this stuff...

As of March 1, 2012, GOOGLE, the big search engine and the entity that manages things like gmail, yahoo, you tube, maps and many other applications is changing it's privacy policy.   I was made aware of one of these changes because I was watching the CTV newscast from Winnipeg, Manitoba (even tho i live on the west coast, I have a cable option of what is called time shift channels, so I can watch tv from Newfoundland, Ontario, Manitoba, and Alberta along with my own local channels). 

One thing that I learned is that if you have a gmail account, and it happens to be open, and at the same time (in a seperate screen) you do a search on google -- by some magic, that we mere mortals do not have the time or inclination to understand for the most part - Google can LINK your search request to your personal gmail account.  Now basically what this means is if I do a search on GOOGLE and type in say OHIO STAR -- which is a type of quilt block -- GOOGLE will LINK that request to commercial enterprises (who pay for ad space) to your email.   That means that a company that say is OHIO STAR Car Repair will send a advertising email to your personal email account (or any thing that relates to commercial enterprises that use OHIO STAR as a "tag").   Now remember, it can only do this if your email account is open at the same time as you are doing other things on the internet...  Don't Panic!   The main thing to remember is that YOU have options.   First you should go to http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/  where you can learn more than you want to know about these new policies...

It is not my job to bore you -- well, just this little bit, but I hope that you can say I am giving you some needed information, even tho it has nothing to do with quilting or crochet or going for rides in the country, or funny little black and white cats with their matching dog.  (had to put a photo in there to lighten up a serious subject)

Check out that privacy policy page, and once you get to the page, read  the section "Information we collect and how we use it".   Then there is on the right hand side of the page a little section that says "Privacy Resources"  click on the "Privacy Tools" and that will explain how you can OPT OUT of some of the automatic (underhanded big brother links) LINKS that you may have connected to your emails that you never thought could happen...

It is up to you to check out these things now that you are aware.  If there are things you don't understand about it, read it again, ask a friend to help you, ask your kids if they know what to do -- kids know so much more about the electronic world, don't they? 

So please, if you can't do it now, write yourself a note and set aside an hour or so to read about these new policies, take the time to understand them and do the things necessary for your own peace of mind to adjust your own privacy settings.  If you do nothing, you will soon be wondering WHAT?? or WHY??? or WHO's This???

Now, back to our regularly scheduled quilting, crochet, and crafty stuff!!  Tomorrow....

PS  I try to use language that we all understand but I just realized I used a word "tag" that may mean something different to many of you...  A 'Tag" in computerese is "is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file). This helps describe an item and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching. Tags are generally chosen informally and personally by the item's creator or by its viewer, depending on the system.