Here's why it's OK that Google knows everything about you

Google has an app called Google Now that uses information it gathers from your location, emails, web searches, and more to learn about you.

For many, that mass collection of your data might seem intrusive, as the all-important sense of privacy is worn down.

But for one of the most popular tech reviewers on the internet, Marques Brownlee, it's fine that Google and other tech giants gather his data, just as long as the data is used for good.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist and StarTalk Radio host, spoke with Brownlee about privacy in a video interview where Brownlee declared he's "OK with all of it."

Why?

Brownlee explained that Google Now knows that he goes to class at the same time and place every day.

So, right there, Google has learned the places Brownlee goes every day by tracking his phone's GPS location and collecting other location data, all without Brownlee without really knowing when Google is doing so. It's happening in the background, even while he's not using the Google Now app.

This is the sort of thing that can get some people spooked about data collection. Someone or something other than him, his close group of friends, and his family knows something about his daily routine, which some people might find unnerving.

Yet, Brownlee went on to say that Google Now shows him "cards" that tells him when he should leave his home in the morning "based on traffic" to get to his classes on time.

"So, if there's an accident [on his route], it'll wake me up earlier to tell me I should head out earlier," Brownlee told Tyson. "I feel like if they're giving back this information to help me in this way that's actually really useful, I'm OK with it."

Google Now can do a lot more with what it knows about you, like deliver sports scores for your favorite teams, let you know if your flight is delayed, and alert you when a package has been shipped. And that's just scratching the surface.

Of course, Brownlee himself understands the concerns people might have when their data is collected, and some of the companies who collect your data do, too. There are hundreds of ways you can limit the kind of data that's collected from you, like how you can turn off the location services on your phones and certain apps.

Yet, not all data-collecting apps give something back like Google's Now app does, so you might still want to actually read the app permissions section on your phone's app store to see exactly what kind of information apps are recording.