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The Google privacy message is incredibly annoying - when I edit all options and set them all to Off (although I doubt this makes any difference!) and accept the review, the same message comes back the following day. What am I doing wrong?
I'm using Windows 7 with Firefox as my browser.
Joseph
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 303
15
There are few solutions that comes to mind:
Sign in.
This should probably stop the reminder from appearing.
Use Google.com instead of Google.co.uk
It seems that Google.com doesn't show the reminder, but Google.co.uk does. You may have to click "Use Google.com" link after visiting google.com, otherwise they will redirect you automatically. (note that this may not work if you're actually in UK)
Use AdBlock
AdBlock can block elements by CSS selectors. The reminder has CSS class _vGg, so adding this rule to AdBlock should hide it:
##._vGg
(they may change the class at any point and the rule will stop working)
Use Stylish or userscripts
Similar class-based approach would work with other methods of altering websites. With userscripts you could even use some heuristics to make it survive CSS class change, but it's a bit more advanced and I won't go into details.
gronostaj
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 33 047
Signing in and using AdBlock works! I am based in the UK so your second option didn't work but atleast now I should be able to avoid this message on my home computer. Thank you very much buddy! – Joseph – 2015-07-27T09:56:53.513
7You can use google.com/ncr to always get google.com (ncr = "no country redirect"), but your results will not be UK-specific then. – Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T11:36:27.300
Why doesn't google.com show the reminder? Is it because it redirects to the US location where privacy laws are weaker than European ones so no need to ask the user before tracking him/her? – Daniel – 2016-03-28T12:39:41.130
5
If this promo is annoying to you and appears repeatedly, make sure your browser is not set up to automatically and regularly clear cookies. If it is and you'd rather keep it that way, you'll need to use any of the workarounds posted by gronostaj.
Adam Woś
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 150
1There, removed the comment about the comment. It is a valid direct answer to "the same message comes back the following day. What am I doing wrong?" (though I'm not implying this cookie setting is wrong, only that it's making the thing reappear) – Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T16:12:15.130
+1, thanks for mentioning a method with cookies. – Joseph – 2015-07-28T09:53:05.093
1Some people want their cookies blocked, especially from Google. – Florian F – 2016-01-04T17:38:43.563
5
This is most likely a problem with either:
To remedy cache and cookies issue:
If that doesn't work, check to see if you have an Addon in your browser that is causing this issue. Addons are in the same "Options" area you were in when you edited the Privacy tab.
If neither solution works, try checking to see if there is an outside source, (*third party programs like CClearner and Advance System Care) that will clear the cache and cookies upon your exit from your browser. Be sure to check their capabilities before checking on any other possible issues.
Cameron Barden
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 51
+1, Many thanks for describing how to store cookies. – Joseph – 2015-07-28T09:54:25.737
I'm not signed in and I haven't closed my browser in weeks. Yet every once in a while I'm asked to review my privacy settings. I wouldn't be surprised if Google was forced to show this to European users every time it changes a bit in its privacy policies. – Daniel – 2016-07-29T18:00:14.523
2
Re Google's security reminders: I tried setting my homepage to Google.com, but then they just automatically reset me to Google.co.uk, as that is where I am based. Now I have set my Homepage to the full Google.com URL, namely: https://www.google.com/?gfe_rd=cr&ei=8U4BVoy2Es3H8geQ4aP4Cw&gws_rd=cr&fg=1 and it seems to work. Not been redirected back to the UK and no security reminders - yet.
Torben Bjarke Ballin
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 21
You can always use google.com/ncr or, once you're redirected from google.com to google.co.uk, you can click "Use google.com" at the bottom right, and this will also be remembered (albeit in a cookie). – Adam Woś – 2016-01-21T10:24:26.150
Only solution so far that lets me delete cookies, not being signed in to the google account, and still search with google. If this nonsense continues, I'll use another search engine. – adabyron – 2017-02-06T20:52:39.923
1
Two alternative methods:
1/ Override the user agent string, specifically for the www.google.co.uk domain. Before Firefox 25, this could be done by adding something like the following to <FIREFOX-PROFILE>\prefs.js:
user_pref("general.useragent.override.www.google.co.uk", "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:3.2) Goanna/20170101 PaleMoon/27.3.0");
In Firefox >= 25, the same can be achieved by installing an Add-on such as UAControl. The user agent string can be any that Google is not able to recognise. Alternatively, don't send the User-Agent request header at all (in UAControl, the block option for a site achieves this).
As well as disappearing the Privacy Reminder nag, this method also has the side-effect of yielding a slightly different Google UI. Noteworthy is the different search results page, with the country, date/time and results refine options down the left side. Personally I prefer this display because it's fewer clicks to refine.
2/ In a similar vein to some of @gronostaj's solutions it should be possible to hide the Privacy Reminder elements with CSS. A simple way without Add-ons would be to create UserContent.css in <FIREFOX-PROFILE>\chrome and add an appropriate style rule to it:
._vGg {display: none !important}
Restart Firefox for the rule to take effect. This method is also subject to the class name changing, and potentially (though unlikely) unintentionally hiding other web sites' content that just so happen to carry the same class name.
See http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserContent.css for more information on UserContent.css.
Jimadine
Posted 2015-07-27T09:11:06.967
Reputation: 832
1Are you signed in to Google? Do you have cookies enabled? – gronostaj – 2015-07-27T09:18:17.030
@gronostaj - Before I logged onto SE, I wasn't signed into Google so I guess that's why I received the message? At home, I don't sign into Google, my cookies are always enabled. So the only way to remove the message is that the user must log into Google? – Joseph – 2015-07-27T09:27:54.560
3Do you have your browser set to automatically clear all cookies on exit? It shouldn't be showing up multiple times unless you clear your cookies:) – Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T11:30:28.773
@AdamWoś - Thanks Adam. I like my privacy so yes, the cookies are cleared on exit as I enabled the option to
Never remember history. I just tested your theory and you're right, it doesn't show up if I keep the cookies =) – Joseph – 2015-07-27T11:34:02.2131Right. Then, signing in (though that'd also be cleared by automated cookie clearing), using google.com, or AdBlock will all be good solutions if you don't like seeing this multiple times :) – Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T11:35:01.850
@AdamWoś - That's very good to know, especially from someone who works for Google! Many thanks buddy :) – Joseph – 2015-07-27T11:37:10.350
You should try keeping the cookies for a few days and see what happens then ;-)) – Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T11:39:58.537
11@AdamWoś "Privacy reminder: In order to prevent this message from appearing, please decrease your privacy so Google can track you better." – user253751 – 2015-07-27T12:10:48.573
@user20574 ...Google can track you better,funny! The most polite way to ask for consent to breach into someone's privacy. – RogUE – 2015-07-27T13:20:49.610
I wasn't suggesting he does that; I pointed out that a cookie is used to keep the consent he gives, so if he gives it and wants it to stick, he shouldn't clear all cookies (or find a way to preserve the cookie that stores that). A discussion about the value of clearing cookies regularly can be had (as an example, optouts from http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/ will get reset and be useless), but this is not the place to have it.
– Adam Woś – 2015-07-27T13:48:02.073