Where is Google?

SoundboxSoundbox Posts: 6,240
Forum Member
Today I transferred all my contacts from my old phone to the new HTC ONE via the internal menu and Bluetooth. Only when looking for the contacts in the new phone and not finding them I realised I sent (saved) the numbers to what showed on screen as Google.

I am now worried as some numbers are sensitive and private. Seeing that they have been saved to 'Google' is something that is really worring me. I need to delete them from the mystery location.

Has anyone got any idea where 'Google' is? Are all those numbers somewhere accessable to the public or are they secure?

Thanks for any help.
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Comments

  • swordmanswordman Posts: 6,679
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    Why would they be accessible to the public do you think Google are ringing your mates? Your numbers have been backed up in the 'Google cloud' should you ever change phones or need to retrieve them.

    You can delete your Google account if you wish or not sync your contacts with Google. If you go to Google on your browser Google.com/contacts you can see what is stored there
  • thebennyboythebennyboy Posts: 327
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    You should be able to see if your contacts were saved to google here: https://www.google.com/contacts/

    You just need to log into your google account and all your contacts saved to your google account will show there in a list. You will be able to delete the ones you do not want on your google account.
  • Jameseh.Jameseh. Posts: 108
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    Worrying about Google accessing your information while you use an Android phone.

    Lol.
  • SoundboxSoundbox Posts: 6,240
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    swordman wrote: »
    Why would they be accessible to the public do you think Google are ringing your mates? Your numbers have been backed up in the 'Google cloud' should you ever change phones or need to retrieve them.

    You can delete your Google account if you wish or not sync your contacts with Google. If you go to Google on your browser Google.com/contacts you can see what is stored there

    Thanks - even knew about that 'contacts' area. If only it were as basic as my mates - some numbers are for people who have given me their 'strictly private' personal number and I was not wanting to abuse their trust.
  • SoundboxSoundbox Posts: 6,240
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    Jameseh. wrote: »
    Worrying about Google accessing your information while you use an Android phone.

    Lol.

    If even one invasion of privacy is found I will be selling the phone pronto. I use it for eMails mainly...see how it goes.
  • jabbamk1jabbamk1 Posts: 8,942
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    Soundbox wrote: »
    If even one invasion of privacy is found I will be selling the phone pronto. I use it for eMails mainly...see how it goes.

    I have bad news...
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    Most people are happy with a cloud backup in case you lose the phone. The same with emails which obviously can get to use those contacts via webmail.

    Hard to do that with a filofax.
  • John_PatrickJohn_Patrick Posts: 924
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    Soundbox wrote: »
    If even one invasion of privacy is found I will be selling the phone pronto. I use it for eMails mainly...see how it goes.

    I'll put the first offer in of £200.....
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11
    Forum Member
    This is for your convenience. It is simply backing up telephone numbers if you lose or replace a phone. Apple do that too when backing up contacts with icloud. I don't see the problem.

    You even have the option not to sync contacts. However I would wonder why someone would buy a smartphone and make it 'dumb'
  • !!11oneone!!11oneone Posts: 4,098
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    There is no privacy issue, any more than receiving email is a privacy concern.

    Google Contacts is an integrated part of your Google Account, along with GMail and Calendar. If these people sent you their number in an email, it is far less private than the Google Contacts storage. Indeed, storing them on the phone itself is much less secure since anyone picking it up could get them.

    Incidentally, if you're worried about your personal information then you should enable 2-Factor Authorisation on your Google account. There's really very little reason why anyone should choose not to.
  • omnidirectionalomnidirectional Posts: 18,796
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    !!11oneone wrote: »
    Incidentally, if you're worried about your personal information then you should enable 2-Factor Authorisation on your Google account. There's really very little reason why anyone should choose not to.

    Good advice there. As long as your account is secure there should be no problem.

    I don't think that people at Google spend all day looking at private data belonging to their millions of users, although that's what some people would have you believe.
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    ... although that's what some people would have you believe.
    So many lives are now dedicated telling us about it.

    Microsoft's millions are spent educating us about Google, and The Guardian, always chasing US readership maybe, does the very same.
    There is certainly a need for education but having the wolves as sheepdogs makes for 'mutton stew'.

    I'm quite trusting Soundbox to throw more 'pebbles in the pond'.
  • psionicpsionic Posts: 20,188
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    Soundbox wrote: »
    If even one invasion of privacy is found I will be selling the phone pronto. I use it for eMails mainly...see how it goes.

    if you're that concerned about privacy you might want to stick with a paper diary or filofax, and hope you don't lose it :p

    Seriously though, storing your contacts online is safe enough, as long as your account is kept secure. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages for most people.

    Of course if the security services, like the NSA, take an interest in you, then pretty much everything you do online can be scrutinised if they so desire....
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57593023-94/google-latitude-to-be-retired-on-august-9

    A victory for privacy.
    Google latitude is closing down in August.

    :rolleyes:
    Well it is sort of funny.
  • !!11oneone!!11oneone Posts: 4,098
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    There's a lot to be said about security through obscurity. Your contacts are pretty safe in Google because they're simply a tiny piece of data amongst billions of others, many of which are far more interesting than yours.

    If you used a service that, for example, only synced contacts for ten thousand users, anyone who got a data dump (or, indeed the NSA leafing through it), your particular piece of data is much more likely to be exposed.
  • finbaarfinbaar Posts: 4,818
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    I do not understand the worry about Google, Apple or Microsoft and their cloud services. Mobile operators and ISPs record all of your usage and are a much greater threat than any of those three. The simple fact is that if you are worried about privacy you shouldn't even be reading this post - stay off line.
  • SoundboxSoundbox Posts: 6,240
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    Thanks for the input. I have deleted some of the phone numbers - not that I worry about them being accessed but I was asked to not share them.
  • !!11oneone!!11oneone Posts: 4,098
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    But that's the point. You AREN'T sharing them. You're just storing them somewhere secure. Besides, you've clicked "delete" on your phone, but you can bet they're not completely gone from Google's servers and backups.

    I'm betting that the numbers were emailed/texted or you've written them down. All way less secure than Google.
  • daclickdaclick Posts: 3,393
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    Gonna miss latitude if I'm honest it was an efficient way of keeping tabs on our van driver to avoid ringing him asking where he is
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    daclick wrote: »
    Gonna miss latitude if I'm honest it was an efficient way of keeping tabs on our van driver to avoid ringing him asking where he is

    Er, did he know? :eek:
  • grumpyoldbatgrumpyoldbat Posts: 3,663
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    daclick wrote: »
    Gonna miss latitude if I'm honest it was an efficient way of keeping tabs on our van driver to avoid ringing him asking where he is

    Something like Glympse might help:

    http://www.glympse.com/get_glympse
  • SoundboxSoundbox Posts: 6,240
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    Yesterday evening I sat down and spent a bit of time working things out. What caused my confusion is that there appears to be two cloud storage locations. Dropbox (for photos and media) and Google for (phone numbers and ?). I have set my phone to send photos and downloads to Dropbox and that works well. It is just the Google part that is not clear as this seems to be an extra storage area that is used randomly. I am getting to grips with the HTC now and it is a steep learning curve.
  • alanwarwicalanwarwic Posts: 28,396
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    I never realised HTC devices came with Dropbox built in.

    A good idea to use them then as long term, it more avoids the chance of suffering device OS lock-in.

    There is also Ubuntu One which sounds a good long term storage bet too.
  • !!11oneone!!11oneone Posts: 4,098
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    Google storage is for Gmail, Drive/Docs, G+ (including photo sync but only if you let it), Contacts, Apps from Play, Music on Play (if you choose to sync) and Chrome (bookmarks, search history, cross-browser tabs etc - again only if you let it).

    In short, Google storage is a secure area for all the things you might want to access across multiple devices. It's the default cloud storage option for everything on the phone.

    Dropbox is a third-party app which can perform similar functions but isn't standard on Android, which is why it duplicates some of the functions that Google provides.
  • Thine WonkThine Wonk Posts: 17,190
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    Have you ever heard the phrase 'if it's free, you're the product'?

    That applies to google's free services. Your information is what they use to sell targeted ad-space and google make all of their money from understanding their users and selling ads to companies that want to put things in front of you.
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