Google

[11211121iori]

Do you think google is becoming like big brother on the web?

[Milton Bradley]

Sort of. More like a companion to big brother. ( And believe me, they'll use it. )


I often wonder what the rationale is to maintain all of that information. As yet, I haven't heard what I consider a valid answer.

[Jack]

Quote by: Milton Bradley I often wonder what the rationale is to maintain all of that information. As yet, I haven't heard what I consider a valid answer.

It all comes down to advertising. The more they know about you; your habits, your favorite sites, where you spend your time online, which apps you use, what cookies you have, what type of system you own, where you live; all that gets (supposedly anonymously) aggregated into data that can be used to target advertising even more precisely. All that data is nearly priceless for any ad company, online and off. Small fortunes have been made selling data lists no bigger than a few thousand names and parameters. Can you imagine the value of Google's stored data?

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Jack It all comes down to advertising. The more they know about you; your habits, your favorite sites, where you spend your time online, which apps you use, what cookies you have, what type of system you own, where you live; all that gets (supposedly anonymously) aggregated into data that can be used to target advertising even more precisely. All that data is nearly priceless for any ad company, online and off. Small fortunes have been made selling data lists no bigger than a few thousand names and parameters. Can you imagine the value of Google's stored data?

Well there you go folks, tie it to potential profit, and you have your answer.


Did anybody learn anything?


I did.

[Jack]

But if the OP is asking about Google becoming Big Brother I'd say that still hasn't been decided. Sure they're data miners. Sure it should be creepy to keep that much data on their servers, at their mercy. But we're still free to make that decision or walk away. However, I don't think we know enough about the people actually in charge of future planning at Google to say whether their intentions are benign or malicious. If they fail in their role as stewards for our data, we may not know until it's too late to do anything about it. (I know the NSA would love to have access to Google's database.)

[gela]

There is a number you can message here.

12Buddy or something like that.. I don't really remember.

But, you message it, saying 'tell me about John Smith' or something, and it will find the region the message came from, then look you up on the internet.

It could tell me who my friends were, and my hobbies.. it was creepy.

[Milton Bradley]

Quote by: Jack But if the OP is asking about Google becoming Big Brother I'd say that still hasn't been decided. Sure they're data miners. Sure it should be creepy to keep that much data on their servers, at their mercy. But we're still free to make that decision or walk away. However, I don't think we know enough about the people actually in charge of future planning at Google to say whether their intentions are benign or malicious. If they fail in their role as stewards for our data, we may not know until it's too late to do anything about it. (I know the NSA would love to have access to Google's database.)

Just like communications, if the government deems the information worthy of having, they'll take it, no questions asked.


You know, if allowed in court, the information contained within could just about void anybodies Fifth Amendment rights. I mean, you volunteered all that information, correct?


That's the thing about being on top, every time you move your foot, you're on another slippery slope.

[Jack]

You know, if allowed in court, the information contained within could just about void anybodies Fifth Amendment rights. I mean, you volunteered all that information, correct?

True, but most people only do so with confidence because of the data collection site's privacy policy, Terms of Service (TOS) or End-User's License Agreement (EULA). We expect the site collecting our data to honor their terms and not release or share our data, except under court order, with anyone else. Unfortunately, when our data is breeched, we are often unaware and seldom informed. Not to mention that learning your personal information has been compromised after the fact doesn't do much good.