I was using my wife's iphone (I have an iphone too). After typing just one letter in the Google search bar, it pulled up the obscure word I had entered in the search bar earlier that week...only that was while using my phone, not my wife's. The word was not common, so it was definitely specific to me. I further tested by typing in one letter of other words or strings I had used that week, and sure enough, Google predicted those entries. So it was clearly recalling entries I had made. The only common point is that we (wife's phone and my phone) were both using our wifi at home. So I surmised that Google must be collecting this data from our ISP. If that is the case, how exactly are they obtaining it?

Our ISP is Comcast. Would they have to tap into Comcast's systems or is that info stored in my router or modem? Pardon my ignorance. I don't know how networks work, but this situation really piqued my curiosity.

No. Google have no access to your router / modem and no access to your ISPs data.

Do you have use the same Apple ID? Are your Apple IDs linked in anyway? This is much more likely than Google using data from your ISP / router.

Different Apple IDs. We have the same cell provider and are on the same plan with Verizon. But that's it. And we were using wifi at the time, not Verizon's LTE. I was blown away when it recognized my history on her phone.

Did you sign into any google apps/accounts on her phone?

Use Chrome at home? Have google search suggestions turned on?

Go to my account in google chrome, go to personal info & privacy, and in the first box it says:

Your searches and browsing activity (paused)
Web & App Activity makes searches faster and enables customized experiences in Search, Maps, Now, and other Google products.

Is the box checked yes?

There should be a bunch of options, I turned them all off except location history.

No. I just opened up a browser to google. I was like wtf when all my searches on my iPhone started showing up on hers.

No, I use Firefox on my PC at home.

Not sure why you would think Google has access to information from your ISP. If you search Google then it will have your IP address alongside the content of those searches. The simple explanation would be that it suggested autocompletes from the same IP address - but I'd be surprised if in fact this was how it works, since that would kill your buzz searching for that niche porn that your wife doesn't know you like.

Are you 100% sure that you've not been signed into something on her phone? Sounds v much as though Google is linking the two devices to one account.

Mainly due to the fact that I am an ignoramus with the way these things work.


Ha! Normally you'd be right too. Luckily not this time. Phew.

I don't see how I am. We are on the same account as far as Verizon is concerned, but she has her own passwords, cloud, etc for her phone.

But maybe this will help solve the puzzle. I further tested by searching some less than popular entries on google, while using my PC. Our PC uses the same wifi as we do with our phones (our household wifi). Then I took her phone, as well as mine, to see if those strings were recognized. They were! So I take it it's the IP after all? That's pretty dangerous. I can see a lot of men getting busted this way. Ofc the wife would have to know about these technical details first. I suspect most will just think it's Google trying to steer them somewhere, not realizing it was their man that caused the predictor string to pull up niche porn or god knows what lol. The guys will likely dodge a bullet, but it's not without risk. I wish google wouldn't go this far. Invading privacy.

P.S. Works in reverse too--I can search for something less than common on my iphone (at home, on my wifi), and then that same string will be recognized on my PC when using google.

I think verizon is your only common link[your wifi is also provided via or true verizon i assume] or the wifi provider[don't know how it works in your country i live in the netherlands] and they[verizon] have some kind of sharing deal i guess, could try to find out, so if so try to find a way to block that or accept it or maybe some settings on your i-phone can block it.

You could use google to do so LOL, there must be some forum/site that have the answers.

As the saying goes: seek and you will find. right?

[QUOTE=petjax;48375560]I think verizon is your only common link[your wifi is also provided via or true verizon i assume]/QUOTE]

Verizon for our iphones, Comcast is our ISP.

[QUOTE=Ativan;48375985] Aha i see, and then you know what i meant with difference per country, because here in the netherlands you can log-in with your i-phone or any other smartphone on your home providers internet if the router has wifi, so you don't have to use the here in the netherlands very expensive mobile providers internet, since often people have a 1 or 2gb free internet and after that you pay a lot per mb, but then still i think it is verizon that gives the info too google.

There is a really simple solution to this.... stop using Google !!

Gee brilliant i really think he has not thought of that, do you?:rolleye s:

Duckduckgo is a sensible alternative.

AMEN!!!

Better to state the obvious than make ridiculous statements about an ISP giving information to Google. Maybe you should consider the quality of your own posts before criticising others !!

I would surmise that both devices are logged into the same google account.

If I'm not logged into any google account, google does not customize my searches at all except by using my ip address to get my approximate location. For example, if I google the search string weather, I get the weather for a town near mine.

There are some links for: google comcast SSO

In any case visiting this URL should tell you what's going on: https://myaccount.google.com

I'm not sure it's a question of being logged in to the same account: I don't log in at all to my Google account if I can help it, and autosuggest still seems to be personalised. Having dug a bit further though I can't find any indication Google would be doing this on IP address alone, so if it's not being logged into accounts per se then perhaps it's some other cookie issue instead.

That seems odd. Are you on a computer, or a phone?

If I logout from google and search for twoplustwo, and then go back to google.com and type in two, google's autosuggestion doesn't come up with twoplustwo.

I don't see how a cookie could hold my entire browsing history.

thunderbolts and all,


I think a great general principle is that the most simple and straightforward possibility is usually the one that holds true.

The simplest answer is that both devices are using the same external IP address, and google is presenting suggestions based on that IP address. Is there any evidence to discount this simple possibility?

smmcoy,


I'm not an expert, mate. That said, I think you're missing the point. The cookie doesn't log the entirety of your browsing history. The cookie identifies you as a unique user, which allows the database of unique users to be queried. Your delicious cookie number comes up, and the entirety of the browsing history of the unique user that is you can be produced from the database.

In short, the cookie is not the end-all be-all. The cookie is just the pathway into the end-all be-all.


Cheers!

As I said that's not how google works in my home. If I logoff I don't get customized suggestions.

When I'm at work, I share the same external IP address with 100s of computers. When I logoff from google I do not get any customized suggestions that are intended for anyone else.

If google didn't respect your privacy that would be the opposite of straightforward and simple.

In my opinion you're smearing google for no apparent reason.