How Google Tracks All Of Your Online Purchases. Its Reasons Are Unclear

Google tracks all of your online purchases. How? ExpressVPN reported:

"Initially stumbled across by a CNBC reporter, a "Google Purchases" page keeps track of all digital receipts sent to your Gmail account from as far back as 2012. The page is not limited to purchases made directly from Google, either. From flight tickets to Amazon purchases to food delivery services, if the receipt went to your Gmail, it’s on the list. Google takes the name, date, and other specifics surrounding the purchase and records them in a list on the page."

The tracking is a reminder of the special place Internet service providers (ISPs) enjoy with access to all of users' online activities. Consumers' purchase receipts can include very sensitive information such as foods, medicine, and medical devices -- for parents and/or their children; or bookings for upcoming travel indicating when a home will be vacant; or purchases of medical marijuana, D-I-Y guns, and/or internet-connected adult toys. The bottom line: some consumers may not want their purchase data collected (nor shared with other companies by Google).

Now that you're aware of the tracking, something to consider the next time a cashier at a brick-and-mortar retail store asks: paper or email receipt? I always choose paper. You might, too.

To view your Google Purchase page, visit http://myaccount.google.com/purchases and sign in. Only you can view your purchases page.

Privacy solutions appear ugly. One option is to switch to an email provider that doesn't track you. If you decide to stay with Gmail, the only fix is a manual process which will cost you several hours or days to wade through your archive and delete emails:

"... the only way to remove a purchase from the list is to find and manually delete the email that contains the original receipt. Worse still, you can’t turn off tracking, and there’s no way to delete the list en masse. This process is incredibly tedious... Even more perplexing is that there’s no clear purpose for the collection of this data... the logic behind this reasoning is strange, the info is hiding in Google’s Account page, and it’s not exactly easy to access for users who want to “view and keep track of purchases.” And seeing as this page isn’t really being promoted to its users..."

Google said it is doing more for its customers regarding privacy. Last month, The Washington Post reported:

"... One executive after another at Google’s I/O conference in its hometown of Mountain View, California emphasized new privacy settings in products like search, maps, thermostats and updated mobile phone software. "We strongly believe that privacy and security are for everyone, not just a few," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.

Said product manager Stephanie Cuthbertson, who introduced a new version of the Android mobile operating system: "You should always be in control of what you share and who you share it with."... Google also committed to improved privacy controls of its Nest-connected home devices, including the ability of users to delete their audio files. Some users have reported having hackers eavesdropping through their Nest devices."

Hmmm. It seems more privacy and control does not extend to Gmail users' purchase data. What are your opinions?

[Editor's note: this page was revised Monday evening to fix a typo and to include the link the Google Purchases page.]