Google’s unofficial motto is “Don’t be Evil”. And I’ve always thought they should change it to “Don’t Be Evil – We’ve Got That Covered”.
I don’t believe Google is some huge benevolent force for good in our society. And the proof for that is evident in people’s reactions when I voice my caution about the company. People look at me as if I’m a freak for being distrustful of this mega-giant corporation that knows everything about everybody.
I know there are millions of techies who share my opinion, but it appears that the average person hasn’t really thought through what’s happening behind the scenes. I get the feeling that my friends view Google as “Green” and therefore Google inherently wants the best for humanity. They are putting out FREE apps and services, therefore they are the “ultimate good” standing in the face of greedy Microsoft and other computer giants.
But something just doesn’t sit right. I think my friends don’t realize that services claiming to be FREE, aren’t actually FREE. There is something we (Google users) give Google in exchange for the use of their service or product. In fact, there are two major somethings. To use a Google product you give up
#1. valuable, personal information
#2. All Anonymity
Let’s look at a list of their services. (partial list)
- Google Analytic
- Gmail
- Google Merchant
- Google Reader
- Google Voice
- YouTube
- Google News
- Google Earth
- Google Chrome
- Google Desktop
- Finance
- Google Health
- Images
- Maps
- Street view
- News
- Talk, Translate, Calendar, Blogger, Groups, Docs, Etc.
If you (reading this post) use any three of the products listed above, Google already knows more about you than you could even imagine.
“Big deal” my friends say. “Google is a company, not the Government. Who cares if they know what sites I visit?”
The point is, the issue is WAY bigger. Google knows what you like to watch on TV, who you listen to, what you drive, where you shop, what you buy, where you live (complete with pictures), what you’ve said in every email or text message you’ve ever sent, who you’ve called and what you’ve said in those conversations, who every one of your friends is, what religion you are (and how serious you are about it), when your next doctors appointment is, and what sickness you have. And More.
Here’s the point. Google is a publicly owned market place company – at the moment. But all this tonnage of sensitive information they are gathering by the nanosecond, is of extremely high value. You can bet that the government is salivating just to get their hands on it, if they haven’t already. And as we’ve seen in the recent past, the only thing required for the Government to take over a corporation like this is to simply declare it “Too big to fail”. Then WHAMO – Google is a government entity.
A good friend of mine said to me “Rob, there are no secrets anymore”. And he’s right. I know my every click is being recorded and I still access the web on a daily basis.
The bottom line; I use Google products daily. As a tech person, I have to. But I have a very healthy and active distrust for entities who constantly want access to more and more of my personal/private information. I’m not naive enough to think that Google isn’t Evil. ‘Cause in my opinion, they actually are. Only time will tell.
Something to think about.
Related: Italy investigates Google over claims about gathering data
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