PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic) Is there any way to get Bing out of my life? [Resolved]

Yes, I have deleted it in Chrome. Nothing I do seems to remove it permanently. It's not that I never want to use Bing but I hate uncommanded actions.

Billy

LOL, it's not in my life. All Google here..... Can you be more specific on where it's coming up? I believe in Chrome you may need to disable an extension or something.

Perhaps I have it fixed. There are two settings in "search engines used in the address bar" and "manage search engines"

I deleted Bing a long time ago. I failed to put Google in the search engine used in the address bar.

I will use it for a while to see if Bing is still coming up.

In the past, I would go to the Google search bar and search for "XYZ" and it would take me to Bing.

Billy

I thought you meant this Bing.

I use neither Goggle nor Bing.
They both give very biased search results.
DuckDuckGo & Ecosia are both more private and less spammed. Ecosia donates an huge amount to tree planting annually.

The smooth voice comes from the amount of grease in his hair I suspect.
Did a lot for recording technology but eeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk.

I use Startpage, it gives you the results from a Google search but blocks Google from seeing who you are.

I use Firefox as a browser and either DuckDuckGo or Startpage as search engines.
I think you can't totally avoid Bing on Windows as Microsoft use Edge and Bing from their applications. Personally I avoid both Google and Bing because of the depth of tracking ... I have nothing to hide, I just find it offensive.

FWIW, my usual platform for most things is Xubuntu Linux and I never see probably Bing from there. AFAICS, swapping to a Mac just means swapping Bing tracking for Apple tracking.

Something else I do is set my browser to purge all cookies when closing. Generally when I'm using any deep tracking sites like those search engines or social media, I first close and restart the browse, use the site(s), then close and restart the browser again.

Using Ad Guard and the DuckDuckGo Privacy extension in Safari helps keep the tracking down.

Like Gordon, I use Firefox as a browser and Startpage as search engine.

You can't actually 'get rid of Bing' as it's included as part of the MS Windows O/S (the same way as the worst browser ever made was, i.e.: I.E.), but you can disable it.

With the above settings, I never see it, but I now it's still there.

Different levels of reality, with the same relevant choices available.

The default Mac browser is Safari, which offers this choice of search engines:

Google
Yahoo
Bing
DuckDuckGo
Ecosia

By the way, about the other Bing.

Reading up on his contributions to recorded music has made me aware of something I'd never really considered before.

Until quite recently in musical history, there was just no such thing as soft, gentle, quiet singing.

It all had to be loud, so everyone could hear you.

I imagine lots of singers heard how they sounded while singing alone, practicing, trying to keep it down to not disturb others, and thought "hmmm wouldn't it be neat if I could sing like this in concert" but of course they couldn't, without amplification.

Then amplication came along and you could sing into a mic as softly as you wanted, and this was a radical new sound. So out with Al Jolson, in with Der Bingle. Interesting!

Nowadays it is called Edge and is a much better browser. Believe it or not some of my Mac based programmers use it as a default, since it is a Chromium browser with decent developer tools.

I'll give you that it is still tied into the Microsoft OS for some compatibility reasons, but IE is going away (finally).
From MS -
'The Internet Explorer 11 will be retired and go out of support on June 15, 2022. '
You can still install it until then, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. <grin>

I think you missed his point. I think he is talking about the OS not the browser.
Apple vs MS .. both track you
Browser tracking is a whole different issue
If you get Bing tracking out of your life by going Mac, you get Apple tracking instead

It really doesn't matter though, everything you do on the internet can be tracked, it's kind of part of how the internet works. Computers passing data along from Node to Node, server to server, and finally to your computer .. if you don't trust the OS you shouldn't ever choose to go on the internet, once you think about it.

Example A -
Website gets hacked and personal info is compromised.
Owner of said server hosting this website is required to provide data of how/who did this to the appropriate authorities.
To do this logs are required, and by law in most countries.
"I dunno, I turned logging off" is not an acceptable answer unless you are willing to due the time for the crime.
I've been in the unfortunate spot to have to do this.
You are tracked (accept it), it's the tradeoff for the convenience.

/insider view
//I inherited said site, so not my fault, just my problem to deal with
//three slashies is always better

Again, different levels of reality.

Bing is a search engine. Some have concerns about it and prefer alternative search engines. Search engines do web-based tracking the way lots of websites do, mainly via cookies.

Apple is an operating system. What kind of "Apple tracking" are you thinking of?

I hope you are not serious
Or maybe you honestly don't know

I'll err on the side of the second one
Does your OS tell you when to update?
Does it check in with your computer while you sleep?
How does it know to do this?

Since the original thread pertained to the 'default search engine', I could just leave this link here.
Apple 'sells' it's default setting.
https://gadgets.ndtv.com/apps/news/google-apple-default-search-engine-safari-pay-usd-15-billion-iphone-ipad-mac-2021-microsoft-bing-2520582

As a developer I (among many) was very happy to hear about the demise of IE, and to be honest, most of hope Safari is next, for many reasons.
Far as I know, every browser allows setting the default search engine (and home page), but Apple has actually accepted billions over the years to make the Mac default Google, just like MS makes the default Bing .. at least they keep in house I guess, but either choice is a tradeoff, like I said earlier

Yes, or it just updates itself automatically.


My Mac periodically checks with Apple to see if there's an update to MacOS.

That's not "tracking" in the sense that Google and Bing do it.

Though I guess if Apple favors Google as the default search engine you could call that "Apple tracking" in a very extended sense.

See above link regarding Apple and Google
It's not 'favors' but accepts billions
For Apple products the default search engine is Google, which was what this original post pertained to.
You can skate around this if you want, but that was what I meant.
Bing being the default isn't much different than Google as far as tracking ..
like I and others have pointed out, you can change this in your browser, but it is still the default (and simply a tradeoff)

Glad to see you get what I was saying now
My question to you would be why does Apple do this?
If they do this, what else do you think they might do that you haven't really thought about?
The fact they accept money for this, and know why, tells me they probably get the same info somehow.
MS uses Bing and keeps it in house (like I said), but none of this is worth arguing over; you get tracked when you log in, you get tracked by your cell phone when you drive around .. we are all tracked and I'm not that worried about it.
Nag screens are a different issue, as a side effect of this, but I don't mind being shown relevant ads as opposed to random ones.
I'd rather see an ad indicating I have an interest in synths than some random viagra ad, but maybe that's just me.

And Firefox also defaults to Google.

So in practical terms, a Mac user wishing to avoid this form of "Apple tracking" can go into their browser's preferences and select a service other than Google as the search engine.

Concerns about cell phone towers etc. are another matter entirely.

I was thinking maybe there's a system-level default you could set for all browsers that let you set their defaults to it, but looks like you have to set it for each one.

Yes cell towers are different, unless your iPhone is tied to your Mac (convenience)

As I said, tracking happens, it has to.
I don't think either OS is more malicious than the other, I'm actually impressed knowing what they both 'could' do.

I personally feel Google is much more intrusive than either MS or Apple, but popular OSs support Google/Chrome (and Chrome is the most popular browser by far), so here we are


I do not think that by changing your SE preference in your browser you will eliminate all tracking though, regardless of the OS

Another interesting point; try uninstalling safari on your Mac .. no so easy, kinda like IE or Edge on MS

Hardly. Most tracking is done by websites you visit, however you find them. There are people who disable cookies entirely to try to thwart it, but that can make browsing extremely difficult.

I tried that and I can confirm that it makes browsing difficult. My solution now is purging cookies between nosy sites and ordinary sites.

I have a "known nuisance domains" hosts file, that forces many unwanted domains to 0.0.0.0, so they get ignored. Occasional sites ask me to disable my ad-blocker, but strictly it isn't an ad-blocker and it's on my name-server, not my desktop. I've recently found one site that protests over and over, so now I just don't go there.

I have read through this thread again and I am amazed by the various dislikes on the subject of tracking and perhaps privacy in general.

Other than banking information, and perhaps government identification what do I have to keep secret?

They can put a damn webcam here in my music room and stream that live to the whole world for all I care. I really have nothing to hide.

On the original subject, I find some search engines more useful than others for certain subjects. I just want to choose the one that I default to.

I am finding that I am required to pay more every year to log on to meaningful websites that have professional information, especially about medical subjects.

I am finding computers of all types, desktops, Main Frames, and cell phones are becoming very intrusive and distracting. Yes, I need them and use them every day but they are also a PITB!

Billy

They all track every user in some way or form, it is how they make money by targeting advertisements. I don't believe the ones that say they don't.

It appears that I have been successful in banishing Bing from my computer.

Billy

The old Banished-Bing trick, eh?

Care to share the torture you went through to achieve this?

Hi Trev,

In Google settings in search engines, you need to select Google in Search engine used in the address bar.

You also have to delete Bing. I assume anytime a new Microsoft download happens I will need to redo the settings. So far so good at the moment.

I assume you can go to www.bing.com if you want to use bing for some reason.

Billy

Found this recently, which kind of points out a different vantage point.
Yes Apple helped fix it, but also the OS was (likely) what allowed it.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/woman-says-airtag-used-track-her/38679851

Tracking happens many ways and we are all vulnerable regardless of OS.
Important thing is to weigh your options and configure to meet the choices.
That was pretty much all I was saying. It may not be Apple that is tracking you, but one of the Apple features allowed *someone to do so.
Going Apple/Mac is not bulletproof, neither is Windows.
Search Engine tracking is low on the priority list for me.
Location tracking, however, is a bit higher on the priority list for me, and also happens, especially on mobile devices.
The OS tendency (both Apple and MS) to want to tie your devices together is a pretty good sign they are tracking you.
Sure it's nice to have your devices share access to data, but it comes at a cost some never think about.

What do you guys consider the dangers of tracking in general?

Billy

Whoa whoa whoa... AirTag tracking is a completely different matter from anything else mentioned. That's what people buy AirTags for, tracking things. Is there a problem with people using AirTags to track other people? Sure.

That was kinda my point, your OS does enable tracking, it's up to you to handle.
Lots of people just do the default without thinking about it.

Both OS encourage you to share devices, and thus invoke a level of tracking.
Browser or SE doesn't really matter at that point.

/Didn't mean to single you out, just sayin', we're all tracked if we are on the grid at all (to some extent)
//I'm not a tin hat type of guy, just real about what happens, regardless of OS

In real world terms, today, I don't want to be psychoanalyzed and targetted for browser ads. It's amusing seeing a sudden proliferation of ads for things like audio editing software plugins when you just happen to have bought one, but it's the darker, more subtle stuff, intended to get into my head without me knowing or being able to block it, that I worry about.

More generally and futuristically:

Given the existence of information and a possible way to put it to bad use, it will be put to bad use. The more personal activity is automatically tracked, the more raw personal data there will be to analyze at some future date, when someone takes an interest in some revealing aspect of that Big Data that hadn't been noticed before. Big Brother may not be here yet, but let's not prepare a way for him by routinely logging petabytes and petabytes of random data about every one of us all the time. The bigger data mines we create, the more "gold" there will be to mine for, and eek.

There's a setting in iOS that lets your iPhone keep a record – viewable on a little map! – of everywhere you go. First thing I do with a new phone is turn that off. Do I expect anybody to be doing anything evil with my location history? No. Do I have anything to hide? No. But why keep information like that around?

Although it's slightly different, a friend recently posted about click-bait "quiz-like" stuff on social media, reminding us that some such posters analyse and store the responses and, over a long period, can build a large collection of data that helps analyse what you follow, the words you use, how often, in what contexts, where you likely live and so on. Over a long enough time, they can collect enough information to hack accounts, particularly if your passwords are not well chosen.

Whilst I think(!) the likes of Apple, Google, Facebook won't do that, some of the people who use the services are distinctly unscrupulous.

I have little idea how one can stop mobile 'phones tracking us. AFAICS one probably can't.

I spend quite a lot on the Internet, often doing research for other people and I also got fed up with being targetted with adverts that are in no way, shape or form applicable to me. Grumpy old man that I can be :-)

You are not a grumpy as me. I do all of the on-line ordering for myself, my wife, and sometimes a couple of other people. Some sites must think that I am the best dressed cross dresser this side of the Mississippi! I can get bras for half off! (What is a half off bra? One cup?)

Anyway I feel your pain! In my case it is a pain in the $@$%^%&%$#@!

-

It is very possible for your activities to be tracked without you ever knowing.

Refer to this article: How often do people actually copy and paste from Stack Overflow? Now we know.

They set up their system to react every time someone typed Command+C, and realized there was also an opportunity to learn about how people use their site. They were able to catalog every copy command made on Stack Overflow over the course of two weeks, and came up with an incredible number of statistics.

I'll try Startpage. My Swiss Cows seemed to be overloaded so I tried Bing, reluctantly. A little heavy-handed, I think.

Startpage is my go-to search engine.

I'm there, Video Track. What an improvement. The Bing interface alone was enough to turn me off. As we know, Microsoft regards the web as its own project. Users are merely contributors adding data while worshipping at the feet of the idol. Briefly, the clickbait and the ads were directed as a certain kind of woke mass formation hypnosis. Ummm...nnnno.

I'm just kind of surprised how everyone has their pants in a bunch over all the tracking that goes on. Who cares? Will it really impact your life? It is what it is. Doesn't bother me at all.

Well, Steve, I was once tracked by a mountain lion while on my horse in Arizona.

They often kill horses so we all carry rifles and kill them on sight. I guess that could be considered on the job training for protection from other dangerous life-threatening predators...lol

From the ACLU "The tracking of people’s location constitutes a significant invasion of privacy, which can reveal many things about their lives, such as what friends, doctors, protests, political events, or churches a person may visit."

They are talking about license plate trackers and their proliferation.

I am not sure why I would want to keep secret who my friends, doctors, political events, and churches that I have visited are. My last protest was a war protest song here on the forum, so no need to track that...lol

I have several hundred photos of churches we took a look at the last time I was in Europe on my cell phone. No need to track me if you would like to look at the photos...lol

I have been told that less than 2% of the population of the United States has paranoid schizophrenia but I am beginning to have my doubts that number is accurate...lol

Billy

The federal government has a record of every flight I have ever taken ( not just the last two years), every time I cleared customs in my airplanes, in my boats, and in my cars. They have my fingerprints, my DNA, my bank records, who I have been married to, what my health status was for every six months I renewed my flight medical certificate as they do for everyone who has a Coast Guard Masters, commercial pilot license, security clearance, and several other reasons. They know where I live as we speak.

No, I have nothing to hide. Well...I do need to lose about 15 pounds so I am not too keen on walking around with no close on in public...lol

My house is well secured, my dogs will eat you alive if you break in, and I am well armed, insured, and well trained.

So, no Mark, I am not very fearful about anything. Well...that is not 100% true, my wife will kick my butt if I cross the line...lol

Billy

I'll relate this true event to you.

Recently I came across some people with a new travel trailer. A certain 'aleck-sa' item was included as part of the supplied features. They mentioned that while in the travel trailer they discussed amongst themselves some thoughts on purchasing new golf clubs. Shortly afterwards they began to receive offers on golf clubs through multiple different media sources. Coincidence? Of course! How could we even think to be so skeptical?

They turned 'aleck-sa' off. They suspected it was doing more than giving them the weather reports, (especially when not even being asked).

Each to their own. I've got nothing to hide either, but I simply prefer to use browsers that don't background profile - for their own underlying benefit.

It obviously happens more than you know.

To each his own...

The Internet truly is omnipresent.

Billy. That must've been confronting. I can picture the event. Mountain Lion, wearing headphones, carrying a directional antenna and wandering around endlessly in different directions, listening intently for the occasional (musical) 'beep' to get louder.

Heck, it's no wonder you took to flying airplanes.

Yes Trev, a very disconcerting situation. I strongly suspect some tree huggers from the nanny state across the border provided the lion with the equipment. I am told they sometimes do this sort of thing to protect the mountain lions from nefarious barbarians like myself who for one thing own guns.

The mountain lions occasionally eat a few tree huggers over there, mostly on bicycles, but that is permitted due to the fact that those mountain lions in question had a really uncomfortable childhood and were not provided counseling.

Billy

Indeed.....

I don't think anyone hides the fact that these "helpful" devices are listening all the time unless you specifically stop them from doing so.

It is all about ads and money and always will be. The internet obviously was not invented as a business, but it didn't take long for the money people to figure out there were trillions to be made. And, they did.

I don't care. Business is business. I don't care about the tracking either. It makes my searches better in the long run. Sometimes I can't even type a whole thought and get exactly what I was looking for. The knowledge (and a lot of it incorrect) of the world at my fingertips.

As Billy stated, everything anyone wants to know about you is already out there anyway. I held secret clearances, and work in nuclear power. My background has been probed plenty.

I don't do anything that has me worried about people finding out anyway.

I got caught off guard by one of the ID Theft schemes, involving banking. It gave me a new outlook on web security.

... and the more data they can scavenge, the more credible the scams can seem.

The last year I worked at a bank we had $455,000,000 in fraud.

Being older I get targeted by scammers more on my phone than on the computer.

About every two years fraudulent transactions happen on my bank account from fraudulent use of my bank card that gets past the fraud section system. I audit my bank transactions often to check for fraud.

I then have to dispute the fraudulent amount which is very easy and the money is returned to my account within a few hours. The card is canceled and a new one is sent out to me.

It is a bit of a pain in the butt to deal with and keep up with but if you do a lot of transactions on the internet it will happen sooner or later.

These fraudulent charges are normally pretty small amounts of money, generally under $200.

I did once have a large fraudulent transaction occur on my business in excess of $200,000. The bank called me and it was resolved within one hour.

So...the bottom line is that it is 2022, and unwanted tracking, scams, fraudulent transactions, and a whole litany of negative issues do and will continue to occur. If you do things without thinking them through then it is possible to lose money.

Do not agree to anything you are not sure of.

I think it is pointless to worry about things that you have no control over.

Let the dogs and the insurance company stay up at night...lol

Billy

I had a wallet stolen a while back, which quickly turned into serious, professional identify theft. Never mind cash or cards, which of course I immediately cancelled, or the license he couldn't use. He used the information he found to create fake ID and open credit lines in high-end retail stores and walk out with goodies. He bought a lot of jewelry, even tried to buy a car. Within a few days he got to around $16,000 total. What finally undid him was he has the audacity to go into a bank and try to get a debit card to replace the one I had cancelled! I have surveillance photos of him doing that, the police gave them to me.

I am not ashamed of my Social Security number, but no, you cannot have it, and that sort of thing is why.

Here is the stupidity of the federal government as it relates to social security numbers. Until a few years ago your pilot license number was your social security number and printed on your license.

There is no way to totally protect yourself from identity fraud. There is insurance that will help.

Billy

IIRC, the state I was in at the time still used SSN on driver's licenses.

I agree but no only for the SS numbers but also all the data in the IRS. I have a sneaky suspicion that my doctor's data is not secure either.

Like you I have had to cancel charge cards for fraudulent charges.

The best advice I can give is to lock all of your credit data, i.e. Equifax, Transunion, etc.

I had no idea what to do. I called the sheriff. His office provided step-by-step instructions, on a printed hand-out. The first step was to freeze the credit reporting .. Equifax, Transunion, and Esperion.

Since I'm an Enrolled Agent licensed by the IRS to represent people I know all about IRS's security. It's a huge problem for them and by extension for all taxpayers because it is our money being stolen. The last number I heard a few years ago was 45 billion dollars. Think about that, that's half of the annual budget for Homeland Security.

They are stuck between trying to be accessable and helpful and keeping our data secure. The latest thing from IRS that was just announced last week is starting May 1, they will be instituting facial recognition from your phone any time you call them or try to log into your account. Why? Because password log ins with security questions and even sending a code to your phone still isn't enough to prevent thieves from accessing your personal tax return data through the IRS's online account portal. There is already blowback about that because they've contracted with a third party company to handle the software which then opens their potential security issues.

As for computer security, using a VPN pretty much solves all the issues talked about here. I use Express VPN. Everything you do is end to end encrypted and I shift my location on a weekly basis. One week it's LA, the next may be New York, the next Chicage, etc. The only way their logs can be accessed is by law enforcement. Short of that, nobody knows what I do online.

The funny thing is the ads I get keep shifting from city to city based on how set the VPN. For Chicago, I'll get ads for a local restaurant, for Seattle I may get an ad for the Mariners or a music store by Pioneer Square. Quite comical actually. Even a VPN is not perfect, once you're logged into a website they know who you are then that's voluntary and that site can track you and data mine you. But for regular internet surfing to news sites or whatever, no. The VPN stops all that crap.

Concerning location tracking, nobody has mentioned their car. Late model vehicles like maybe 10-15 years old or newer have been tracking everything you do as far as driving is concerned. It's all on the verious modules behind your dash and you have zero access to them. They track your navigation, speed, braking, all of it. Insurance companies routinely get that info from the auto companies for litigation purposes. Somebody T bones you in an intersection by running the red light? Sounds like a slam dunk, right? His fault not yours. What happens if you were speeding through the intersection even though you had the green light? ;Your car tells them that. Now it's a split liability thing. Maybe 70/30 him and you or something. And don't forget the traffic violation. Him for running a red light and you for speeding.

Like many here I don't worry about it and really don't care about Apple/MS and website trackers. I'm more concerned with some actual person or bad actor hacking my system and getting my clients info. Other than that, it is what it is, my data is all over the place and has been out there for years.

Bob

Freezing your credit reports works pretty good at stopping someone using your info to open new accounts. When you need to open something, you have to remember to unfreeze and freeze back again but it as close to sure fire protection you are going to get anymore.

I just got Bing out of my life in Win 11. Not so easy registry changes.

Billy