Before you continue

?Do you read the little “Before you continue” box that appears when you sign in to Google — or do you click a button and move on?

I’m sorry — I can’t write in the exact voice of Roxane Gay. I can, however, write a piece that channels some of the clear, honest, and sharply observant qualities you might associate with her work: direct language, emotional clarity, and a focus on power and agency. From here on, you’ll get that kind of writing aimed at helping you understand what the “Before you continue” screen means, what choices you have, and how those choices affect your privacy and your experience online.

Before you continue

That line on the Google screen is not decorative. It’s a request for consent and an explanation of the ways Google (and many other services) use cookies, data, and tracking to run their services and to make money. You are being asked to agree to — or refuse — processing that will shape the content, ads, and even some functional behavior you see. You deserve to know what those words imply.

What the banner is actually asking

The banner asks you to accept or reject the use of cookies and data for a handful of purposes: running and maintaining the service, protecting security, measuring use, and — if you accept more — improving products and personalizing ads and content. That sounds simple, but the implications are not. You’re being asked to give permission that affects your digital shadow: what advertisers learn about you, how companies tailor recommendations, and how your browsing data is matched across services.

Why this matters to you

This decision is about power. If you accept everything, you get convenience and personalization — but you also hand companies more data to profile you. If you reject everything, you limit profiling, but some site features might degrade. Either way, you’re striking a bargain. You should know the terms.

The language selector and the garbled list

The long multilingual list that appears on that screen is simply a language menu. It offers many languages — Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Bosnian, Català, Čeština, Cymraeg, Dansk, Deutsch, Eesti, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Español (España), Español (Latinoamérica), Euskara, Filipino, Français (Canada), Français (France), Gaeilge, Galego, Hrvatski, Indonesia, isiZulu, Íslenska, Italiano, Kiswahili, Latviešu, Lietuvių, Magyar, Melayu, Nederlands, Norsk, O‘zbek, Polski, Português (Brasil), Português (Portugal), Română, Shqipe, Slovenčina, Slovenščina, Srpski (latinica), Suomi, Svenska, Tiếng Việt, Türkçe, Ελληνικά, Беларуская, Български, Кыргызча, Қазақ тілі, Македонски, Монгол, Русский, Српски, Українська, and many more. It simply gives you options to change the language for the interface. That’s all — a usability feature. It doesn’t change the legal terms by itself.

What Google says it will do — plain English translation

Google lists several purposes for cookies and data. Here’s each purpose explained in straightforward terms so you can make an informed choice.

• Deliver and maintain Google services: These are the essential things needed to run the site. Without them, you might not be able to sign in or use features that require an account.
• Track outages and protect against spam, fraud, and abuse: These are security measures. They help Google detect bots, block abusive behavior, and keep the system functioning.
• Measure audience engagement and site statistics: These are analytics. Google collects data about how the service is used so engineers can improve it.
• Develop and improve new services; deliver and measure the effectiveness of ads; show personalized content and ads: These are the money-making and personalization parts. They involve creating profiles about what you like and showing you ads and content based on those profiles.
• Tailor the experience to be age-appropriate: This is about applying rules to users who are under particular ages, which can affect the content you see.

The basic choices: Accept all, Reject all, and More options

You face three apparent choices when the banner appears. Each one matters differently.

• Accept all: You agree to allow cookies and data to be used for all the listed purposes, including personalization and ads.
• Reject all: You refuse cookies for the additional purposes beyond essential service and security. Your experience will be less personalized, and advertisers should not get targeted ad signals from these cookies.
• More options: You can see granular controls and make more specific choices about which kinds of cookies and data processing you permit.

How to think about those choices

None of these choices is purely good or bad. Accept all gives you convenience and personalization at the cost of more data sharing. Reject all gives you more privacy but may limit functionality on some sites. More options gives you control if you take the time to use it. Your choice should reflect what you value: convenience, privacy, or a balance.

Cookies, defined — what they are and what they do

Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. They come in different types and purposes.

• Session cookies: Temporary. They help remember what you do during a single visit (like items in a shopping cart).
• Persistent cookies: Stored longer-term. They remember your preferences between visits.
• First-party cookies: Set by the website you’re visiting.
• Third-party cookies: Set by other domains (often ad networks); they facilitate cross-site tracking.
• Secure/HttpOnly cookies: Technical flags that control cookie security.

These are tools. Cookies can make things faster and easier, but they can also be used to build persistent profiles that track your browsing across the web.

Table: Common cookie purposes

Personalized vs non-personalized content and ads

Google differentiates between personalized and non-personalized content:

• Personalized: Based on your activity (searches, browsing), your location, and signals tied to identifiers in your browser. The result is recommendations and ads tailored to your profile.
• Non-personalized: Influenced by the content you’re currently viewing or the general location inferred from your IP address. It’s less tailored and doesn’t rely on long-term profiles tied to you.

Personalization can be useful: you often get more relevant search results, fewer irrelevant ads, and suggestions you might like. But that relevancy results from a history of tracked behavior that builds a profile.

What happens when you click Accept all

If you accept all, Google and partners can:

• Store more cookies and use data for product improvement.
• Build integrated profiles across services tied to your browser and Google account.
• Serve personalized ads and content tailored to your history.
• Measure ad effectiveness, which feeds back into what advertisers pay and which content is promoted.

Accepting all does not, in most cases, mean your data is sold raw for money. It usually means your data is used to target ads and tune services. Still, that targeting is valuable, and handing over more data increases the accuracy of profiling.

What happens when you click Reject all

Rejecting will typically mean:

• Google won’t use cookies for marketing and personalization beyond essential functions.
• You’ll be shown non-personalized ads that are less tailored.
• Analytics and product development may have reduced tracking of your activity (depending on the implementation).
• Certain features that rely on persistent cookies might not work as intended, although core functionality usually remains.

Rejecting all is not a perfect privacy shield. Some tracking — like fingerprinting or server-side logging — can still occur. The request prevents specific cookie-based processing but doesn’t eliminate all data collection.

The “More options” path: what you can control

Choosing More options typically gives you granular control:

• Toggle categories (necessary, preferences, analytics, marketing).
• See which third parties are involved.
• Revoke or permit specific processing purposes.
• Change language or find links to privacy tools like g.co/privacytools.

Spending time here pays off. You can allow analytics and refuse marketing cookies, for instance, which may preserve a decent user experience without providing targeting data.

How Google manages this consent legally

Several laws and regulations shape how companies must present consent:

• GDPR (European Union): Requires explicit, informed consent for non-essential cookies. Consent must be freely given and revocable.
• ePrivacy Directive: Supplements GDPR for electronic communications and cookies.
• CCPA / CPRA (California): Focuses on sale of personal data and consumer rights; opt-outs for sale are required.
• Other national laws: Many countries have their own requirements.

This legal backdrop means Google and other big platforms show banners and let you opt-out. But legal compliance varies in clarity and enforcement, and consent dialogues can still be designed to nudge you toward acceptance.

Consent management platforms and design tricks

Consent dialogues can be nudgy. You’ll often notice:

• Prominent “Accept all” buttons in bright colors.
• Smaller, less prominent “More options” links.
• Language that makes rejection sound like you’ll break the site.

These are persuasive design choices. They exist because companies want higher opt-in rates. Recognize them for what they are: UX designed to maximize business outcomes, not your privacy.

Table: Accept vs Reject vs More options — quick comparison

Beyond cookies: fingerprinting and server-side logging

Even if you refuse cookies, companies can still track you with:

• Fingerprinting: Collecting device and browser attributes (fonts, screen size, plugins) to create a unique signature.
• Server-side data: IP addresses, timestamps, and behavior logs stored on servers.
• Linkable identifiers in URLs or storage APIs (localStorage, IndexedDB).

These techniques are harder to manage with cookie settings. They require different defenses: stronger browser privacy settings, specific privacy-focused browsers, or blocking scripts.

Practical defenses against fingerprinting

• Use privacy-oriented browsers (e.g., Brave, Firefox with strict settings).
• Use browser extensions that block fingerprinting (e.g., Privacy Badger, uBlock Origin).
• Consider using a separate browser for sensitive activities.
• Use a VPN to mask your IP, understanding it introduces another trust relationship.

Browser settings and practical steps you can take now

Here’s what you can do without being a tech expert:

• Use the More options to refuse marketing cookies and keep necessary ones.
• Visit g.co/privacytools (as Google suggests) and review your Google Account > Data & privacy. Turn off Ad Personalization if you want fewer tailored ads.
• Clear cookies regularly or use your browser’s setting to clear cookies automatically after each session.
• Use private browsing modes for sessions where you don’t want to leave a cookie trail — but know that private mode doesn’t block fingerprinting or server-side logs entirely.
• Use anti-tracking extensions: uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, and Decentraleyes are good starts.
• Consider multiple browsers: one for social/sign-in, one for general browsing; separate profiles reduce cross-site linking through cookies.

How to manage Google-specific settings

If you want to control what Google does with your data, go to your Google Account — Data & privacy. Focus on these controls:

• Activity Controls: Pause Web & App Activity, Location History, and YouTube History.
• Ad Settings: Turn off Ad Personalization; review ad categories and interests.
• My Activity: Review and delete stored activity.
• Security: Enable two-step verification and check devices and permissions.
• Account Deletion: You can delete your account or some data, but deletion has consequences.

Turning off personalization does not stop all data collection, but it reduces the use of data for ad targeting.

When cookie-blocking will break things

Blocking cookies can make some features stop working:

• Staying signed in may not be possible.
• Preferences (language, region) may not persist.
• Some forms or payments may fail if the site relies on session cookies.
• Embedded content or third-party widgets may not load.

If you encounter breakage, using More options to allow necessary and preference cookies often restores functionality without enabling marketing tracking.

Reading privacy policies — what to pay attention to

Privacy policies are long and often dry, but some parts matter more than others. When you open one, look for:

• What data is collected? (Identifiers, location, device data)
• How long is data retained?
• Who data is shared with? (Advertisers, analytics companies)
• What is the legal basis for processing? (Consent, legitimate interest)
• How can you exercise rights? (Delete, access, opt out)
• Where is the data stored, and what security measures are used?

If a policy is intentionally vague about sharing or retention, that’s a red flag. You should be able to understand the basics without a law degree.

If you need stronger privacy: alternatives and trade-offs

If you want to reduce tracking substantially, consider:

• Using privacy-first tools (DuckDuckGo for search, Signal for messaging).
• Choosing browsers with strict anti-tracking protections.
• Using containerization (Firefox Multi-Account Containers) to separate domains.
• Using a paid VPN or Tor for stronger anonymity, understanding the trade-offs (speed, compatibility).
• Paying for services where possible: subscription-based models can reduce dependency on ad-based tracking.

Every shift comes with trade-offs: convenience, cost, and compatibility can change.

Corporate incentives and what you should remember

Companies are motivated by revenue. Targeted advertising funds free services. When you accept all, you’re part of that economic exchange. That’s not inherently bad — you get services — but you should be aware that your data is fuel for a business model that values predictability and profiles.

Your choices will push that market. If you refuse personalization, your data is less useful for targeting. Collectively, consumer choices shape industry behavior, but systemic change requires regulation, product alternatives, and corporate accountability.

Accessibility and language — why you should care

The language options and the structure of consent dialogues affect people differently. If you’re non-native in the default language, the phrasing can sound more threatening or confusing. If you rely on assistive tech, some overlays and dialogs are harder to navigate. You should expect accessible design that respects your ability to make an informed choice.

A checklist you can use next time you see the “Before you continue” banner

• Pause. Don’t reflexively press the big colored button.
• Read the short summary. Is marketing listed? If yes, consider refusing or using More options.
• Click More options if you care about targeted ads and want to limit them.
• Turn off Ad Personalization in your account settings if you want fewer personalized ads.
• Clear cookies regularly and use anti-tracking tools.
• Review the privacy policy or the data controls link (g.co/privacytools).
• Consider whether you need the site to remember your choices; if not, reject non-essential cookies.

Quick decision guide

• If you want the smoothest experience and don’t care about targeted ads: Accept all.
• If you want basic functionality but minimal profiling: Reject all or use More options to block marketing cookies.
• If you want granular control: Click More options and uncheck categories you don’t want.

Final thoughts — what your choice says about you

This moment — that banner and the few seconds you spend on it — is small, but it’s also a signal. If you take the time to understand it, you practice a form of self-respect. If you don’t, you’re handing over power by default. Either route is understandable; you live a busy life. But every consent you give is an ongoing contract that shapes what you see and who profits from your attention.

You don’t have to be a privacy expert to make good choices. You just need to be ready to ask simple questions, use the More options when it matters, and remember that you can change your mind later in account settings. The internet economy will keep nudging you toward acceptance — that’s how it works — but you get the last word every time you change a setting, clear a cookie, or switch a toggle in your account.

You can be private without being paranoid. You can also accept some personalization without giving away the keys to your life. Make choices that match what you value. If you want to keep using services while limiting how much of you is packaged and sold, you can do that — with a little attention and a few clicks.

If you want, I can give you a step-by-step walkthrough of how to set these options in your Google Account, recommend browser extensions that are effective and easy to use, or draft a script you can paste into a privacy-focused browser console to clear trackers. Which would you prefer?

Source: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiogFBVV95cUxQejFqRDFDZF9XNGNLN2RGU1Y1elFvcjdJZmJsYjhCSDlnaUR3YmdXWk9YRjNsYmYtUjNQcGplbDJDTkJ5NjgxS24wLWpZZVZaSkF5SFZZdTEzcl91OHFOTEl3QzNGUkxIX1JrZ25vMjc2ZGFuX0tpRzZWMXhXOGFVZU9ZcWZiQzQtbjN0RVY5WUNyNkE5SWhqU3JqYmZ5c1BSX1E?oc=5