Is there? I want to know what kind of stuff they are storing on my computer so I can know if i should do anything about it.
Most cookies don’t store any data themselves. Instead it is a session/device token that tells googles servers what device is connecting and then they look up the data they have about you server side. Cookies can store more than that situationally but that is the most common use.
To get what data Google has on you check out Google takeout and you can get a “full” export of what data has been gathered.
what about the encrypted traffic different programs send/recieve on my computer? is it possible to decrypt that?
In general, they collect anything and everything they can get their hands on. So limiting their access, as much as possible, is the way to go.
well, that ship sailed long ago since i have used windows. fortunately i’m switching to linux when my new computer is ready
Wireguard could be helpful if you used a SSL terminating proxy in front of it but then you have to know the data format to parse it. So unless you are a researcher it is a long path ahead of you without any OOTB tools to do it for you.
hmm, good to know
My understanding is that cookies were generally just used as a fingerprint- it’s just a unique ID that is used to tie your device to their database, which is where the information is kept.