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Big brother IS watching us..

(68 Posts)
Nanabilly Fri 11-May-18 13:32:37

This morning , about ten minutes ago I booked and paid for a holiday for later this year..five minutes ago I got an email from Google telling me that Google had entered the holiday venue and dates into my diary ..So I checked and all the details were entered in for the entire duration of the holiday.
I feel as if I have been .... Well I'm not sure what I feel but it's knocked the wind out of my sails a bit to be honest.

mimiro Fri 11-May-18 13:48:11

Integrated with Gmail

In their attempt to take over the world, Google has integrated Gmail and Google Calendar to allow you to create events on your calendar right from an email. Google scans your emails and, if it finds a date and time, it gives you the option on the right side of the screen to add an event to your calendar. When you do this, the text from the email will automatically be copied into the description for the new event in Google Calendar.

Elegran Fri 11-May-18 13:49:19

Somewhere you must have chosen to have a Google Calendar and for your events to be added to it, Nanabilly, because Google doesn't do this to me.

Do you have a Gmail account? That is one route for events to be automatically added. At support.google.com/calendar/answer/6084018 you can see how to edit settings for this and delete entries that you don't want.

support.google.com/calendar/answer/2465776?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en is the home page for calendar help.

Elegran Fri 11-May-18 13:50:07

Crossed posts, minimiro

NfkDumpling Fri 11-May-18 13:57:01

When I bought my new iPad I thought I could be picky about what I put on it, but within minutes of switching it on it had picked up on my old one (which was switched on) and carried everything over! And I get alerts of appointments I’d put on the iPad calendar appearing on my phone. Which is a Nokia. How come they’re speaking to each other? I’ve stopped using the iPad calendar.

Nanabilly Fri 11-May-18 14:39:48

Yes I have gmail address that I use on my phone only and I have a calendar on my phone too . Will look into that link elegran thank you .

Elegran Fri 11-May-18 15:53:29

I think the purpose of the Google calendar (I don't have one) is that it is online and can be accessed from any of your devices, and the notification appears on all your devices too.. I don't know how you set up or delete the link from each thing, or whether it sets up automatically unless you untick it, but the information will be there in the help file or the user instructions - if you can just find it!

NanaMacGeek Fri 11-May-18 18:33:28

My OH and I share my Google calendar on our mobile phones, iPad, Windows PC and Macs. If I'm making an appointment at the doctors' surgery, I can check my calendar on the phone, see when it is convenient, make the appointment in the calendar and my OH can see the appointment I've made on his device. Our DC have links to our calendar too so they know when we can and can't babysit although they can't write to the calendar. It's very useful to us.

Marydoll Fri 11-May-18 22:13:31

My DH and I share an electronic calendar. It makes life so much easier, as I have many hospital appointments.
Before I retired, I had access to my headteacher' s calendar. It saved such a lot of time trying to arrange meetings.

lemongrove Fri 11-May-18 22:21:18

It makes you wonder how things will be in 50 years, sadly we won’t be here to see it.

notanan2 Sat 12-May-18 01:04:23

This is the reason people use google callender.

It syncs automatically. All my work stuff and appointments ping right into it

There are other calender apps that dont sync like this

mostlyharmless Sat 12-May-18 07:08:21

It only syncs google calendars if you use a Google mail account on that device.

NfkDumpling Sat 12-May-18 07:42:03

Aha, thank you harmless that explains all! I’m feeling thick!

Grampie Sat 12-May-18 08:40:20

Don’t worry about Google syncing your emails with your calendar cuz they’re only trying to be helpful and you can turn it off if you prefer.

...but don’t get caught driving with your lover by those ANPR cameras!

Neilspurgeon0 Sat 12-May-18 08:47:36

I ran a team of up to six trainers operating across a whole county using shared calendars via Lotus Notes back in the early nineties. I don’t think we could have managed any other way as we had no admin support (local Government cut backs) but it worked brilliantly for us. We even arranged our team meetings using it to track down the nearest decent pub to whichever part if the county the majority were operating in that day. With over 60 fire stations, ten big and many small social services offices, five large training rooms in different cities, councillors in every ward and highways, waste management and other teams out on the road almost all the time, anything other than complete interoperability would have got in the way of the job. They called us the e (for electronic) team and we were among the first really USING eGovernment in a big way.

NfkDumpling Sat 12-May-18 08:59:30

I’m very careful Grampie, I always wear a blond wig. wink

dizzygran Sat 12-May-18 09:01:18

Is it just me who hates the thought of "big brother" having all this information available to anyone wanting to hack in. knowing when you will be away (and your home possibly empty? I write all my appointments in my diary calendar (both bought from the local hospice shop). My diary is in my bag and I leave the calendar in a prominent place so DH and DC can check if I am free. DC can ring or email if they want me to have the children or babysit. We talk to each other too!!!

Elegran Sat 12-May-18 09:08:38

NFK Make sure your lover does too, that'll confuse the face recognition bots.

Cabbie21 Sat 12-May-18 09:13:20

DH has an electronic diary, which means I have no idea ( unless we sit down and talk) about when he is not free.
Similarly, if he dies first, I do not have access to all his (electronically stored) contacts.
There are advantages to syncing. Is that even a word?

Luckygirl Sat 12-May-18 09:20:44

If I buy something online on my laptop, lo and behold my mobile starts flashing up ads for similar things - creepy!

I am definitely "syncing" - grin

Doversole Sat 12-May-18 09:23:13

There was a news article yesterday reporting that a senior judge, in a lecture for the Law Society, has suggested carrying a mobile phone with GPS switched on should be compulsory in order to cut crime. It would create an electronic record of our movements, which could be used in surveillance.
If you want privacy, you have to forego all the fantastic digital tools we know and love ...grrrrrr.

Grampie and Elegran: a blond wig won't fool the facial recognition AI. Maybe try a false nose?

starbird Sat 12-May-18 09:47:15

Imagine if everyone were to be microchippedat birth - it could save lives when a person disappears, but the opportunities for misuse are too high, and hard criminals would have no compunction in cutting out the chip.

GabriellaG Sat 12-May-18 09:50:15

Cabbie21
Do you and your OH not live in the same house? How weird to have to TALK about having to sit down and discuss when each of you are free.
What a mad world when people talk about using spreadsheets for their income and outgoings and syncing calendars with all family members. (shakes head)

Kim19 Sat 12-May-18 09:55:09

Gosh, this thread has me seriously laughing at myself. Here's me thinking I'm comparatively it savvy and I read this and realise I've not a clue what you're all on about. Certainly not a complaint just a reassessment of my lack of simple knowledge. Will do some gardening and ponder. Beautiful day here.

SunnySusie Sat 12-May-18 10:04:04

Starbird you have echoed something similar to a thought I often have that one day we will get the chip from our credit and debit cards implanted into our wrist. It will cut the crime rate, we will only have to wave our wrist at the scanner, however, it might be possible if you get excited to end up buying half of Tesco or a thousand pound dress by mistake.