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Cookie notice

Google

How Google uses cookies – Privacy & Terms – Google

C

Risk score

34of 100

Open the original (new tab)Company page

In short

  • Google uses cookies to store information on your device to remember preferences, maintain security, and show personalized ads.
  • They also use these technologies to track how you interact with their services to measure statistics and improve features.
  • The document does not limit data retention for ad identifiers to a fixed short period but rather sets specific expiration times based on region or usage.

What you accept

If you use this site

Everyday words for the material promises and rights you give up. Each line includes a quote from the document.

Fineprint cannot see whether you agreed. This page is posted on their site. Open the original if you need to know how they say it applies.

  1. 01

    You are agreeing that Google can store cookies and similar technologies on your browser, app, or device to function, secure, analyze, and advertise.

    This product

    “Google may store or use some or all of the cookies or similar technologies in your browser, app, or device for the purposes described below.”
  2. 02

    You are agreeing that Google and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to show ads and personalize content based on your settings.

    This product

    “These cookies also are used for limiting the number of times an ad is shown to a user, muting ads you have chosen to stop seeing, and delivering and measuring the effectiveness of ads.”

What it can cost you

Downsides we could quote

Quoted clauses that can affect your privacy, money, or right to go to court — including terms that follow you to other products.

Highest-cost clauses first

High cost

Tracking you across apps

You are agreeing to let Google place cookies on non-Google sites to track your behavior for advertising purposes.

“The ‘NID’ cookie can be used to show ads in Google services for signed-out users... The ‘IDE’ and ‘id’ cookies are used to show Google ads on non-Google sites.”

What that means: Your browsing activity on third-party websites is tracked to deliver personalized advertisements.

Google places cookies on non-Google websites through its advertising platform. These cookies allow Google to identify users across different sites to serve targeted ads.

Medium cost

Location or sensitive-data over-collection

You are agreeing that cookies may send your precise location information to Google if you have location turned on.

“Another cookie, ‘UULE’, sends precise location information from your browser to Google’s servers so that Google can show you results that are relevant to your location.”

What that means: Your precise physical location is collected and sent to Google via cookies when enabled in browser settings.

The document explicitly states that a specific cookie sends precise location data from your browser to Google's servers.

Medium cost

Cookie consent that favors Accept

You are agreeing that disabling browser cookies is insufficient to stop ad personalization and requires separate action.

“But note that even if cookies are removed or disabled in your browser, Google may use cookie-based information or other advertising technologies to personalize ads unless you change your ads settings...”

What that means: Turning off cookies in your browser may not stop ad tracking because Google offers alternative methods to continue personalizing ads.

Disabling cookies in the browser does not stop personalization; users must separately adjust ad settings in Google's own tools to stop ad targeting.

Lower cost

Indefinite retention

You are agreeing to let advertising identification cookies persist on your device for periods ranging from several months to two years.

“The ‘IDE,’ and ‘id’ cookies last for 13 months in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK), and 24 months everywhere else.”

What that means: Advertising tracking cookies remain active on your device for up to two years without further interaction.

While expiration dates are provided, they can be quite long (up to 24 months) for advertising identifiers outside specific regions.

People also accept these terms in

The same company terms often apply on these apps or devices. This is a lookup aid, not a claim we caught this company.

  • Youtube
  • YouTube TV
  • Android
  • Chromecast
  • Google TV
  • Google Play

If these terms already apply to you

Keep this list. Fineprint cannot undo or cancel something you already agreed to at the company.

We cannot see Agree on their site. With Premium, tap “I accepted these terms” if you already agreed to what Google asks.