Why You Need To Stop Using Ad Personalization On Your Android Phone

Alphabet compiles data on all of its users for a number of reasons. The company says it uses the data it gathers to “maintain and improve [services and apps], develop new services, measure the effectiveness of advertising, protect against fraud and abuse, and personalize content and ads you see on Google and on our partners’ sites and apps.” That last part is also an easy selling point. If you’re selling a product that appeals to 20- to 30-year-old American women with children, for example, it’s obvious any ads will be more successful if they are specifically targeting that demographic than if they’re just shown to a random cross-section of people worldwide. Targeting the ad means, to the best of Google’s extensive abilities, that most if not all of the ads you have paid for will be seen by someone who fits your target base.

So how does Google get this information? You actually willingly hand a good chunk of it over. If you filled out the form honestly when making your Google account, the company will have your full name, gender, cell phone number, and date of birth. It will also have access to your location every time you sign in — or constantly if you use an Android device with location services switched on — as well as the type of content you watch and like on Youtube, the kind of apps you use, your credit card information, and which websites you frequent. There are also things like the Google Opinion Rewards app, which offers Google Play Store credit in exchange for even more details about your life — including things as seemingly benign as what kind of dessert you prefer.