www.Tobold.com
Tobold@GMail.com
A blog with my thoughts regarding games I am playing and other stuff in life. Please read my Terms of Service
RSS Feed
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Google and privacy
Google opened a new service, Google Calendar, which I'm tempted to try out, especially if I find out how I could import my Lotus Notes calendar into it, to have it available from everywhere. I'm already using Google's GMail a lot. I have a Google's personalized homepage. I'm using Google's Picasa to sort my photos. And of course this blog is using Blogger and Blogspot, both courtesy of Google. If one day the fabled "Google Drive" to store your data online comes out, I'll probably use it too. In short, Google is all over my life.
Now in spite of Google's company motto of "Don't be evil", lots of people are worried about Google knowing too much about them. If somebody can read your mail, see your calendar, know what you are searching for on the internet, and has your blog diary stored on his server, he knows quite a lot about you. But the worries that somebody could spy on your life is based on an unrealistic evaluation of how interesting your life is. Fact is that most of us don't have anything to hide. There are no "September 11: Fly plane into World Trade Center" entries in our calendars. There might be a "Tonight: Date with Nicole" entry in there, which your wife isn't supposed to see, but Google is unlikely to read that and tell her. You shouldn't store your social security number, credit card numbers, and all of your passwords on some server, but other than that most of our data are safe, because they interest nobody. So go ahead, let Google take over your life. It's free. :)
- posted by Tobold @ 12:00 PM Permanent Link
Comments:
<< Home
Newer› ‹Older
That information they have stored is worth a lot more then you think, privacy isn’t about hiding the fact that I’m making a bomb, privacy is about the sites I frequent, the places I visit, the products I buy etc etc etc.
Currently there is nothing to worry about as so far google is bringing in enough revenue to not need to sell off the information they have gained. But it’s not at all unrealistic to forsee a day where google will be in a position that they need to sell such information in order to survive.
Associating privacy to 9/11 is way off base. Ordinary every day joe blow information is useful to them, and there are lots of people out there that want it.
Anywho, one can write pages about this, but meh, thats sums it up of sorts in a nutshell.
Currently there is nothing to worry about as so far google is bringing in enough revenue to not need to sell off the information they have gained. But it’s not at all unrealistic to forsee a day where google will be in a position that they need to sell such information in order to survive.
Associating privacy to 9/11 is way off base. Ordinary every day joe blow information is useful to them, and there are lots of people out there that want it.
Anywho, one can write pages about this, but meh, thats sums it up of sorts in a nutshell.
# posted by 
: 15/4/06 13:28
: 15/4/06 13:28
Well, they could use the information they have about me to send me targeted advertising. I'd LOVE that. Because most of the spam I get is for stuff I don't need at all. Only once did I get spam for WoW gold, based on the e-mail address on my blog, all the other spammers weren't even as clever as that.
I much prefer targeted advertising to untargeted one.
I much prefer targeted advertising to untargeted one.
For those people that whine or worry about Google's invading their privacy, then don't use their services. Google is only a commercial firm which has no authority to make their services mandatory.
There is of course risks involved when storing personal information on mediums other than your own brain. I have seen alot of people voicing their concerns over privacy using services Google provides. Gmail, especially, has been getting alot of heats due to its incorporation of Adsence into its engine.
Google Map and it's search engine have been under alot of criticisms for being too powerful. What are those people thinking? Do they prefer half-ass services or what, lol. Is it not easy enough to see that if you don't trust a service, don't use it?
Some people just like to complain. Don't be surprised to see those people whining non stop but yet log on to Google everyday.
There is of course risks involved when storing personal information on mediums other than your own brain. I have seen alot of people voicing their concerns over privacy using services Google provides. Gmail, especially, has been getting alot of heats due to its incorporation of Adsence into its engine.
Google Map and it's search engine have been under alot of criticisms for being too powerful. What are those people thinking? Do they prefer half-ass services or what, lol. Is it not easy enough to see that if you don't trust a service, don't use it?
Some people just like to complain. Don't be surprised to see those people whining non stop but yet log on to Google everyday.
Tell that to the poor Chinese dude who gets a bullet in the head for information we consider innocuous.
"Don't be evil" unless, you know, there's money in it.
Post a Comment
"Don't be evil" unless, you know, there's money in it.
<< Home
