DAY 2: EVERYTHING IN ONE PLACE

‘Is Google your BFF?’, the Data Detox innocuously asks. Look, I know I’m online a lot, but I do have an offline life too, thank you very much.

It turns out that, in reality, Google is my BFF. The Detox asks you what information you share with Google, and then asks if you would also share that information with your best friend. I use Chrome, Docs, Gmail, Translate, YouTube and Maps, which means – and this is where you take a deep breath – I’m telling Google where I am, what device I’m using, what I’m curious about, what I’m working on, what I’m emailing people, which bank, doctor and phone provider I use, the sort of words I don’t know in other languages, my guilty pleasures, what I’m learning to do, what I like to listen to, where I’ve been in the past, how often I’m there and my journeys. My best friend knows a lot about me, but she doesn’t know that much.

I also don’t have an Android phone – if you do, your recorded audio search requests are also being logged. So, Google knows what your voice sounds like too.

You can delete the activity that Google stores, which the Detox tells you how to do.