I had a NASA WWW account back in the mid 90’s. NASA Provided 2 accounts per county. For teachers. Of course there were no other accounts anywhere in eastern NC at the time. If I remember correctly, the interface was called Lynx. It was not GUI. Anyway . . . I accepted from the gitgo, that every keystroke would be saved somewhere in exchange for the access that the WWW provided. As an aside, I spent 6 years in and around the Pentagon and DIA late 80s - early 90s doing Intel resource management. One day my navy colleague attended a high level brief on Intel implications of a thing called "the World Wide Web." The brief had addressed this new tech called hyperlinks. He was so excited, and the tech so new, he could not even describe it. That is just not that long ago!
I retired from the USAF in 1986. I don't recall PCs being in use at that time. I arrived at HQ Space Command in 1982. I do recall having large computers linked to a LAN. Those were the days.
When I first got to Washington, about 1987, we all used Wang Word Processors. IMHO, navy Intel made a bad bet on the Wang, as opposed to standalone computers. Of course the benefit of working in Intel, is that they trashed the word processors and bought computer workstations. Damn, can’t remember the name. Didn’t blink an eye.
You can set your Google Account to not record history from Web and Apps. That said, this is not to say they can't or don't record things IF the account is open, it's just that your account doesn't store it. It's best to always log out of any account when not in use. I routinely clear histories from all browsers, as well as clear the DNS from the command prompt (> ipconfig /flushdns), as well as clear any "cash" folders. Lastly, I use Malwarebytes for malware, and then restart the computer fresh. So far, I haven't had any problems.
CALLER: Is this Pizza Delight? GOOGLE: No sir, it's Google Pizza. CALLER: I must have dialed a wrong number. Sorry. GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Pizza Delight last month. CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza. GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir? CALLER: My usual? You know me? GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with threecheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust. CALLER: OK! That’s what I want ... GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust? CALLER: What? I detest vegetable! GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir. CALLER: How the hell do you know! GOOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years. CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetable pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol. GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only one box of 30 cholesterol tablets once, at Drug RX Network, 4 months ago. CALLER: I bought more from another drugstore. GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement. CALLER: I paid in cash. GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement. CALLER: I have other sources of cash. GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your last tax return unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law. CALLER: WHAT THE HELL! GOOGLE: I'm sorry, sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you CALLER: Enough already! I'm sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I'm going to an island without internet, cable TV, where there is no cell phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me. GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago... Too good
