Free Republic

Ohio continues to add resources to a public-private partnership to combat unemployment fraud, which the state says has cost taxpayers more than $200 million, and the newest additions are a pair of big names. Gov. Mike DeWine announced recently a new agreement between the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and Google to conduct data analytics on all outstanding claims. The state will pay the tech company $1.4 million to use Google Analytics to help discover fraud. “This is one of the first things the private sector group told me when they came in is drilling down on this...

•First, go to myaccount.google.com/privacycheckup. This is a good page to bookmark, since it gives you granular control over lots of privacy settings. •Next, scroll down to “Location History” and choose “Manage Location History.” •This is where you’ll see everywhere you’ve been. It’s a freaky level of detail. •Tap “Manage Location History” at the bottom of the screen again. •Toggle the button to turn off Location History. To delete your history, do this: •Tap the settings button on the “Location History” map. •Select “Delete all location history.” Turn off the option that allows Google to track your location history. That’s not...

How To Stop Facebook, Google And Amazon From Tracking You Just thought it would be good info to show how to turn off the tracking device on Google, Amazon and Facebook.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google wants to know where you go so badly that it records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to. An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used privacy settings that say they will prevent it from doing so. Computer-science researchers at Princeton confirmed these findings at the AP’s request.

If you use Google services, there's a really easy way to download everything you have stored on the company's servers. This is particularly important if you ever decide to quit Google and delete your account entirely, but still want a record of your Google Calendar, an archive of the pictures in Google Photos or a copy of everything in Gmail. It's also useful if you want a reminder of everything Google knows about you. We already showed you how to download a copy of everything Facebook knows about you. Now here's how to download an archive of your footprint on...

DID you know that Google has been recording you without your knowledge? The technology giant has effectively turned millions of its users' smartphones into listening devices that can capture intimate conversations - even when they aren't in the room. If you own an Android phone, it's likely that you've used Google's Assistant, which is similar to Apple's Siri. Google says it only turns on and begins recording when you utter the words "OK Google". But a Sun investigation has found that the virtual assistant is a little hard of hearing. In some cases, just saying "OK" in conversation prompted it...

A prominent privacy rights watchdog is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new Google advertising program that ties consumers’ online behavior to their purchases in brick-and-mortar stores. The legal complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, to be filed with the FTC on Monday, alleges that Google is newly gaining access to a trove of highly sensitive information -- the credit and debit card purchase records of the majority of U.S. consumers -- without revealing how they got the information or giving consumers meaningful ways to opt out. Moreover, the group claims that the search giant is relying...

On the heels of news that the Obama administration Department of Justice was spying on reporters at the Associated Press, Monday brought the startling disclosure by the Washington Post that the DOJ had also targeted Fox reporter James Rosen for surveillance in an effort to plug up leaks. Additionally, the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza obtained the full application for a search warrant of Rosen’s personal email account, in which the DOJ accused him of being “an aider and abettor and/or co-conspirator.” As Lizza put it, “Rosen was not charged with any crime, but it is unprecedented for the government, in...