The Core

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/technology/the-latest-fashion-trending-on-google.html?_r=0

Lisa Green, who heads Google’s fashion and luxury team, said the company had begun working with major retailers, including Calvin Klein, to help them incorporate real-time Google search data into fashion planning and forecasting. “Fast fashion” companies, for example, can take a trend identified by Google and run with it, Ms. Green said.

[Just saw this opinion thingy and thought I'd see what happens]

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>trending

Now think about the upcoming 2016 US elections and the data that they'll sell to the politicos and lobbyists.  I have no doubt that the big dogs of search, algos, and data mining will soon -if not already- have the power to accurately forecast likely results.  That, in turn, will produce if-then action plans that could alter the results.

"Point being, we all complain but nothing will change until people quit using Google."

and THAT is not about to happen in this century - SAD 

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Having been involved in building two post-mortem profiles using forensic accounting, I can attest that you are, indeed, what you buy.  The only true defense is to go to cash.

Location Is Your Most Critical Data, and Everyone’s Watching

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/location/

tl;dr  Dump the cell, too.

>or as entertainment

Or as a 'conscientious objector', gadfly, or anti-profiling libertarian.

they're already ingrained into every part of our (the masses) lives every single way...

I look at it like putting locks on the doors to your house: You can buy Walmart locks or you can pay a bit more and get something better from a locksmith, but neither is going to protect you from someone kicking the door in.  They *looks around* will always get in if they are determined enough.  The trick is not to make it easy for them, the more you make them work the bigger the chance - they - will go after lower hanging fruit. 

1. Recognize right from the outset, that you are not going to keep the government out if they really want your data. But that said there are other lowlifes who you can make things harder for: Search companies, ISP's, advertisers, Creepy Eric, hackers and the like. Some of these are fairly benign and others have evil intent.

2. Use a search engine that does not track you. (This is probably the easiest for joe-average user.)

3. Silo your information and cloud providers.  Don't just use Dropbox, use Dropbox and Box and iCloud, splitting your information between them.  Don't just use Gmail, use gmail AND Yahoo! Mail!. Ditto on OS's.  This way if some hacker breaks into one service they don't get everything. 

4. Be careful what personal info you reveal online.

5. If you can be bothered, encrypt.

6. Use good anti-virus protection and anti-spy/malware. Be careful where you go.

7. Bore them to death with the routine dreariness of your life. Bore them so bad that they will wander off looking for naughty pics people send each other over Y! messenger.

8. Never underestimate how often one hand does not know what the other is doing. (see also siloing above). Remember, while the NSA was collecting meta data on every phone call ever placed ever by everybody, Putin was secretly invading Crimea and taking almost everyone by surprise.

Do I do all these? Heck no, too much trouble, but I do some of them more to befuddle low level opportunists than anything.  But I go out of my way a bit to buy some organic foods and some recycled or eco-friendly products, why can't I do the same thing selectively when it comes to online privacy or just not handing G everything on a silver platter?