There are times when we all get a tiny bit paranoid that somebody — like the Illuminati, the world government, a clandestine spy organization or an alien mothership — is secretly watching us. Keeping tabs on our personal information. Noting down every single, tiny, little thing that we do. [Looks around, peers out of the window, glances at the sky].
As it turns out, there’s no need to worry about secret groups creating a data storage on us because it’s actually happening every single day, right under our noses and in our pockets. Some internet users did a very scary thing — they downloaded their Google data, Facebook profiles and cloud storages, went through it and then posted the most unsettling things they found. Please applaud these courageous individuals who battled intense embarrassment to make us laugh. Here’s a list of the very best responses, so scroll down, upvote the ones you feel are the most interesting, and share them with your pals. You can learn more about your Google privacy settings right here.
#1
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DOCTORFURGLI:
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Okay I have a weird but serious question.
My husband passed away last year. I still have his S7. I’m also 99% sure I have his Google account information, but if not I’m sure the password is saved in his phone.
If this thing really does record voices, how would I go about downloading his Google Data? I just want to hear his voice again. I’m starting to tear up as I type this, but seriously.. I only have one voicemail from him on my phone and maybe a couple videos. Anything more I can get of his voice, pictures of him I haven’t been able to restore… anything I can get I want. I miss him so [friggin] much.
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OLDSTYLEREVIVAL:
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If you have his Google login info, you can get to the voice recordings through the link below and logging in with that Google account. Then go to Data & Personalization -> Voice & Audio Activity -> Manage Activity
From there you can play and download audio clips.
https://myaccount.google.com/
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DOCTORFURGLI:
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Omg y’all thank you so much…. I’m like bawling right now. I accessed it no problem and even though they are short little clips some of the last ones he said were “Asheton is my wife” and “I love you baby”.
You have no idea how much this means to me. Some are stupid things he Googled when we were arguing about stuff (conversions, song names etc) and they made me giggle because it brought me back. Oh man I miss him so much… but at least now I have this little snippets of memories.
This seriously means the world to me. I’m so glad I stumbled upon this today.
Image source: doctorgurlfrin
#2
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HALO462:
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Not so much that it was stored info, but I was cooking dinner when a friend came in from out of town, and I was making three potatoes. I had never microwaved three, and went to search how long to cook them for. I typed in how long to micr… and the first suggestion was microwave three potatoes. That’s not even the weirdest thing that’s happened, just the most recent. Seriously, f*** google. Check out duck duck go.
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PHOTON-FROM-THE-SU:
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Last night I had a conversation via Discord that resulted in me saying “Oh wow! Now I gotta Google what baby platypuses look like!”
Then I proceeded to type “baby” on the Chrome search bar, and immediately got one and only one suggestion: “baby platypus”. They have GOT to be “listening” and processing my audio input real time.
Image source: Halo462
#3
The most unsettling one I’ve had came from Facebook, not Google. Minor bit of background – I’m a straight guy with a lot of LGBT friends and was actively involved in supporting the Australian same-sex marriage campaign, so FB probably had me flagged as gay at the start of 2012.
In 2012 I started dating someone. We’d been friends for some time. I’m on Facebook all the time, she had an account but almost never used it.
We basically never communicated on Facebook.
Immediately Facebook started telling me to mark her as a ‘close friend’ and all of its ads changed from “Gay Singles Cruise” and similar to “Romantic Getaways for Couples”.
I can only assume that it was able to tell from GPS that she spent a night at my place, and that I spent one at hers a few days later.
Image source: sirgog
#4
The most unsettling came from Facebook, of which I uninstalled and deleted my account right after that.
I’ll keep it short, friend’s father abandoned him and his mother when he was about 7 and the father never reached out.
Two years ago he had a tough day and we talked about his “dad” and how life would be different if he did not bail on them.
At the same night I was scrolling through facebook and some fucking old guy that looked very similar to my friend showed up as suggested friends, immediately I took a screenshot and showed it to him. It was indeed his father that he never talked to for about 18 years.
Mind you, my friend never created a facebook account nor used other platforms, so we talked strictly through Steam.
How in the hell did they suggested that to me? I did not even know/had anybody with common friends and it literally popped the same night after a heart to heart.
Image source: Tatolicious
#5
I’m a Web Designer and I can tell you that the scariest [crap] is not what they have on you, it’s how they get that info
Image source: Mr-Klaus
#6
There’s an audio recording of me saying “check the Jewish boys penis” I don’t remember ever saying that but ok
Image source: MrPingeee
#7
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.
Image source: Xtremegulp
#8
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MIDDLENAMERAY:
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Not from going through my data, but one time about a year and a half ago, I was sitting there talking to my now-wife about a time when I was a teenager when I snuck out of my friend’s house at night to go hang out with a girl. I hadn’t had any contact with this girl for several years at this point, so there’s no reason to believe she would’ve been searching for me on Facebook/Google/whatever at right around this exact same time.
Her name was mentioned once in this conversation. Afterwards, not 15 minutes later, I open up Facebook, and immediately she shows up as a suggested friend.
So I guess the takeaway here is that not only is Google listening to seemingly everything (their code that waits for the “phrase” is obviously quite liberal in what it considers to possibly be the phrase) from your Android devices, but they also share it with the likes of Facebook and I’m sure other companies.
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MYYKAY:
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Your now-wife looked up the girl. If you were sharing the same wifi, Facebook probably recognised that the search was from the same IP that you were using. Facebook compared the girl that was searched to your network of friends, probably noticed that some of your friends were friends of hers.
Suggested that you friend her as well.
They do this [crap] with advertising as well.
Google/Facebook recognise people that regularly share the same wifi connection and assume they are related or friends. If one person searches ‘Caribbean Holiday’, others on the network will start getting ads for Caribbean holidays.
It goes even further. Phone radios like Wifi and Bluetooth have unique identifying features ‘UID’s. Two phones within range of eachother will recognise eachother, associate the UIDs with each phone’s accounts. This means that if you regularly spend time with people (like work colleagues), Google/Facebook will know. And so you often get these people as friend suggestions, you start getting ad suggestions for things they search for.
It’s [messed] up.
Image source: middlenameray
#9
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 [crap].
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.
Image source: lagattaca
#10
Google recorded me saying “I’ll take you home” and then my friend replying “you can live with me in my bathtub”
Image source: assertivetwig
#11
onnoquist
I got drunk once and proceeded to get lost on the way home, ending up cycling on some highway. For two years I wondered where the hell I had been until I saw Google’s location history for that night.
Image source: onnoquist
#12
Ok, with permission of my husband, here are some of his that made me almost choke from laughing so hard:
July 30th, 2019 – Said is my wife gay
June 8th, 2019 – Said show me images of hot dogs sitting in a pot
April 18th, 2019 – Said how much money can I make from donating my testicles & Said can I sell my testicles
March 12, 2019 – Said show me a Teddy under the skin & Said show me images of what a breast looks like underneath the layer skin
January 2nd, 2019 – Said what is the average price for a hip replacement in Mexico
December 26th, 2018 – Said how big are hamsters decks
December 13th, 2018 – At 5:42 pm – Said show me places I can buy chicken salad near me, then at 5:46 pm – Said do Syrian hamsters masturbate, then at 5:47 pm – Said order me a chicken salad now bitch
December 11th, 2018 – Said do Syrian hamsters masturbate
December 7th, 2018 – Said where’s a good place to go see Christmas lights at you help a brother out
November 26th, 2018 – Said can hamsters go in water
November 5th, 2018 – Said show me the Alexa product & Said how do you say I’m your big black Daddy in Spanish & said how do you say I am your black father in Spanish
September 28th, 2018 – Said f*** you soap
September 8th, 2018 – Said show me large flaccid penises (I shouted this out while he was trying to search something else but it picked up what I said instead.)
July 3rd, 2018 – Said boogers and boogers I like to eat my boogers masturbating while eating my boogers
Image source: FFXIVkittycat01
#13
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.
Image source: Carkudo
#14
Audio recordings titles are generic and serialized so make sure to take some precautions before listening to them in front of your SO, family or randoms. Please don’t make my mistake..
Image source: ThrowawayReviewJoe
#15
We shared a google account at work. A few of us would use it and forget to sign out. The search history was casually raised in a conversation by the boss. I immediately went red and felt flustered. I had definitely searched ‘is my boss a micromanager’
Image source: HitMeWithASamboyChip
#16
Recordings of conversations with my boss over two years. I don’t know why it only had recordings us talking and no one else
Image source: FiveOhFive91
#17
Google knows every location I’ve been to for the last couple of months. They stored multiple audio files of me talking to colleagues and friends and worst of all, I did not know they were doing that.
My mind is blown and I’m terrified, my private information is no one’s business, Google.
Image source: earlson
#18
My first ever Google search was “what is a chicken” and the second was “are chickens real?”
Image source: williammac2004
#19
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KINOBE:
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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.
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WHITEPOWERRANGERBILL:
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Yeah, I deleted some old photos and a year later they came up in a montage of the year. The funny thing is, I’d like them back but can’t find them anywhere else.
Image source: kinobe
#20
Their profile claims I like Chinese rap. I have no idea why, other than one video I came across in the Youtube rabbit hole
Image source: EnaiSiaion
#21
I just found out i DID [friggin] go to mcdonalds in the middle of the night at my mates birthday party without anyone [friggin] noticing and they were telling me i was just passed out the whole time.
Image source: rexpimpwagen
#22
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
Image source: linecraftman
#23
“My Activity” is empty. It has been for a long time, so, there shouldn’t be anything for me to download, right?
… Nope. 6GB of data.
Image source: s4b3r6
#24
Not the google, but hopefully on topic
I have downloaded my data from Facebook, and the most shocking one was a recorded phone conversation of about 30 minutes long. It was dated back around 5-7 years ago, and most surprisingly it was not even me who was speaking and I could not even recognize who it was…
Image source: svooo
#25
I just checked mine. I’ve apparently used google voice commands twice. Once to say “search” and another time to say “testing testing.” These were both said over a year ago.
Image source: Rasimov
#26
My purchase history on websites like eBay, Amazon and other companies that (I guess) all sell their data about me to Google. I ha dno idea of it and although I share things like my location to Google, seeing my purchases is kind of scary because I never allowed it.
Image source: aehoard
#27
I found my google search log from 2006 (!!!!!). I was a young, stupid teenager. Searched for: “Nude girl”.
Image source: Fenris05
#28
LOL. I checked my entire history of voice recordings and it was just me trying the lumox maxima and nox commands and nothing else. Apparently I already turned it off and I forgot I did.
Image source: chanchan05
#29
So many drunken audios. Like, not even meant for the phone, just background talking while (most of the times) very drunk, it was half unsettling half fun to listen to them.
Apparently when you press the microphone on the keyboard (I think it’s for changing audio to text) it gets sent to Google. And apparently my drunken ass is very prone to missclick it.
Image source: mikykeane
#30
I have around 340 recordings. Most are of me using the voice command “okay Google” but there are a fair few that are just background recordings. I can hear myself talking to my mates or singing etc, but i think they’ve been recorded by me accidentally pressing the home button on my phone, similar to a pocket dial. I wasn’t expecting that many recordings but nothing nefarious as far as I can tell.
Image source: carus_33
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