The "new" Google

Use a trackless browser seession as you describe, and then don't sign in to a Google service if you're that worried about it.

What Google has done is to unify their privacy policy across a previously fracterous landscape of web services, sites, applications ... it makes complete sense for all of your interactions with their services to be subject to a comprehensible single policy. This especially makes sense for them, as they've just gone public, and are now subject to a huge new regulatory burden when it comes to record keeping.

Just gone public in 2004 you mean.

Otherwise +1 to all Matt said.

In my mind, Josh, after eating too much pasta just now, I have turned Google and Facebook into one company. I've since rethought that. :-)

SarbOx compliance costs are for sure some of the reasons for Google straightening out their witch's brew of policies.

Yeah, that's what I figured after all the FB news today.

I have turned Google and Facebook into one company.

It's called Goobook.

I've read a bit about the merging of their data—gmail, plus, search, etc. but I haven't heard much about what could be the biggest heap of data in their portfolio: analytics. For instance, google tracks this very page you're reading because photo.net, like practically everyone else, uses the service. Google analytics is so ubiquitous that Google for all practical purposes knows everything you do online—not just on google sites. With the new privacy policy this data is merged with the very specific, identifiable information they have from your profile on plus and gmail. They know you, probably better than you know yourself.

Most easy solutions for web privacy provide little more than a thin feel-good veneer. You have to decide how much convenience you're willing to sacrifice for the illusion of privacy.

That said, try Startpage and Ixquick proxy. Or any of a gazillion free proxies between you and Google.

After a few days of not being able to find the stuff you're accustomed to finding easily with Google using the same search terms, and the nagging reminders about Javascript incompatibilities and not being able to click directly from one site to another, you'll begin to wonder whether you really need all that privacy.

You can have a certain amount of privacy by sacrificing some convenience, or very convenient and nearly seamless interfaces between sites. If there's a way to have both, I haven't found it yet.

Both Google (+) and Facebook took up too much of my spare time, which I could have used to further plunge into photo.net ;) I am a more wise person now.

Could someone here please define what constitutes privacy and just what it is that needs to be hidden about a person that they're concerned about being made NOT private by google or any other internet data collecting site?

I mean we're not talking about making known bank account numbers, pin numbers, passwords and all other unmentionables considered, right? What else is there to know about a person that can't be found out with a thorough background check anyway?

Oh wait, is this about porn?