Google collects data that might reveal your relationship status (e.g your preference), school/working place, life events (e.g. new child) and location (e.g. next vacation place).
The more Google knows about you, the more they are able to list all your online presence with a simple google search. You can be a victim of identity theft, business email compromise or target in general. E.g, I can search your name and see on linkedIn that you're a system admin or handle a server. I can use that to further social engineer or guess your credentials. You might have also posted something in the past that can be used against you.
An extreme but common example: You've been googling for vacancies. A hacker managed to figure that out and found out you've applied for a specific company. He/She then fakes an email/phone call using the information they found online offering you an interview. They then ask you to fill in a form. Which happens to be a malware, that you open on your company network. And infects the computers with ransomware.
I moved away from google services about a year ago. I also deleted almost all my social media account. It was tough. But I like that privacy now.
As they say in security. It's easy to not be scared of things you didn't know exists.
Depending on who you are.
Google collects data that might reveal your relationship status (e.g your preference), school/working place, life events (e.g. new child) and location (e.g. next vacation place).
The more Google knows about you, the more they are able to list all your online presence with a simple google search. You can be a victim of identity theft, business email compromise or target in general. E.g, I can search your name and see on linkedIn that you're a system admin or handle a server. I can use that to further social engineer or guess your credentials. You might have also posted something in the past that can be used against you.
An extreme but common example: You've been googling for vacancies. A hacker managed to figure that out and found out you've applied for a specific company. He/She then fakes an email/phone call using the information they found online offering you an interview. They then ask you to fill in a form. Which happens to be a malware, that you open on your company network. And infects the computers with ransomware.
I moved away from google services about a year ago. I also deleted almost all my social media account. It was tough. But I like that privacy now.
As they say in security. It's easy to not be scared of things you didn't know exists.
I wasn't talking just about google but online services in general. Be wary about what you share, here are some good video about security and hacking:
youtube.com/watch?v=4gR562GW7TI
youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I