If I google "why is it bad for google to track you", I can find a hundred articles breathlessly telling you all the ways google is tracking you, and a hundred more on how to stop it - but none answering the question.

Can someone explain to me why it's a problem? (I make the assumption that even if google doesn't do it, your carrier does, so it doesn't add anything additional to "government's ability to repress/harass".)

Your carrier can not track you nearly as detailed as google can. Your carrier doesn't know which sites you visit (only the IPs) and they especially don't know how long you look at what, what you're buying, etc. Their location tracking is only exact to a few hundred meters whereas google can locate you with very high accuracy.

Personally, I have two reasons to avoid Google and other tech monopolies: 1. I don't want the government to be able to subpoena my data 2. I don't want to be cut off from my digital life just because some employee clicks a button. That means I'm self hosting as much as possible.

It's never problem if it's just about small number of people.

When they track half of humanity, they can see all kinds of patterns that they, and other people can exploit.

Let's turn your question around. If all this information is that useless and harmless why are all corporations and governments spending tens of billions of dollars acquiring and keeping?

Tracking isn’t bad per se. The bad part is that all the information acquired from tracking is used to build an oversimplified profile of each user, that in turn distorts the information that Google searches return for that user.

This often reflects and amplifies societal biases. For example, users that Google identifies as female are less likely to be shown ads for high paying jobs [0]. This creates a feedback loop: if a certain user demographic is less likely to be shown a given result, they are less likely to view it, which in turn makes them even less likely to be shown it in the first place.

[0] https://spectrum.ieee.org/amp/women-less-likely-to-be-shown-...

For me, it's simple. Google is using this data to cement it's monopoly, to extort businesses and to pressure governments.

From your comment, it seems like your main concern is that governments can access your data. But what if beyond&above those governments, there is a single entity that's far more powerful? Would you be willingly hand the data to them? Because that is what Google is. Or is becoming. Or, if you're very sceptical: can easily become.

If you don't have any problem with your daily itenary beinf tracked, then no explanation will be good enough for you. Just respect the fact that people don't want their daily activities available to 3rd parties

But that's exactly what I'm trying to understand. What is the problem people have with it? Maybe if you tell me, I'll feel the same way!

I have lots of things to hide.

It is not only you. The more people are OK with this, the higher the danger for other people, who are not OK with this, because data adds up and usually becomes more information than the sum of its parts. Tracking and spying are a danger to people, whose work requires them to not be tracked and found. People like journalists in oppressive regimes. While people run around merily sacrificing their privacy for the reason, that they are uninformed about these issues, they indirectly play into the hands of those, who want to make journalists shut up and disappear.

Privacy is vital for a functioning society. If not for you personally, then for others. By adding yourself to the mass of people, who do not care, you are helping in creating an environment, where privacy is not valued. Seen as something "only a few radicals want". Quickly abolished by governments in the name of "but think of the children!" or "but think of the terrorists!" and similar nonsense.

Fantastic way to put things, well done.

OK, that's a great argument. Thank you.

The solution to this complete transparency for all, but that is also a pipe dream.

If Google's tracking data became available to the right people, you can imagine why that would be bad for you if the married FAA official in charge of approving the 737 MAX was tracked to his mistress' apartment.

You'll find out when it's too late.

I wasn't suggesting we'd all be using Google Maps. The point I was making is that TomTom had a large role to play in their own demise. They went for the quick buck, employing dark patterns, necessary device upgrades etc. And yes car manufacturers are guilty of much the same.

> I am, however, somewhat concerned that TomTom uploads my travel history to their servers, since my device has LTE/3G capability.

They do, or at least they used to before the GDPR came into action. Not sure what the situation is like now.