Judging by the reactions of people in this thread I can only assume that; a) you have no idea what was actually happening in this case and b) you have no idea that your ISP is not only watching everything you do on the internet but retaining that data should the government and others want it in the future.
Google's the most evil company. They've paid more privacy-related fines than any other tech company in the history.
MOST evil? Please. Remember Enron? Being unethical is different than being criminal...(though it's a dubious distinction).
I think Google's the web's equivalent of big tobacco...minus death. People just accepted their practices because no one really understood the problems or dangers, but now the world is cracking down. Now Google is trying to cover up mistakes or practices. Whether the cover up is to spare the bad PR or exploit a situation as long as possible, they had better wake up quick. They cannot continue to operate their advertising business this way without the chants of "evil" growing louder and louder. The fines will get steeper and resulting regulations will make life miserable.
I believe it's "don't be evil", but close enough. Steve Jobs knows better. He looked into Eric Schmidt's cold dead eyes and saw nothing but an empty void staring back at him. And Steve knew what he had to do.
Grrrrrr...but I really like Google's Chrome browser.
As long as you don't buy a Chromebook, don't buy apps from the Chrome Web Store, and change your default search in Chrome to Bing (or whatever you prefer), Google won't make a dime off you using Chrome.
The browser is open source and everyone can see what the code is doing. Exploiting users through the browser is a low I am sure Google wouldn't sink to.
Judging by the reactions of people in this thread I can only assume that; a) you have no idea what was actually happening in this case and b) you have no idea that your ISP is not only watching everything you do on the internet but retaining that data should the government and others want it in the future.
Yeah, I am worried about Google.
-kpluck
I understand what you are saying, but I do not have an option as far as what virtually all of the internet providers do. I do however have a problem with Google or other companies deliberately circumventing my privacy settings. If there is something that I can do to keep them out of my business, I'm going to do it. For the record, I don't have a huge problem with a certain amount of targeted advertising, I just want to control what information goes out, to whom and how often it happens.
If you want to take things a bit further, your credit card companies track everything you buy, where you buy it, where you dine, what car you drive, where you buy your gas, how often you travel and to what destinations etc. That information is worth $$. Travel companies for example might like to know that someone holidays every March to the Carribean, so they can send out some targeted advertising material.
At the end of the day, we have very little privacy and what privacy we do have is tough to enforce.
At the end of the day, we have very little privacy and what privacy we do have is tough to enforce.
Enforcing privacy requires government intervention, like what the FTC did. We need laws like the EU data directive, which gives a person editorial control over their data. We need laws that go even further. Market forces cannot secure privacy, only government intervention can.
But right now, under the current laws, privacy doesn't exist. The government, regardless of your country of origin, knows everything about you, and you have no recourse against what they do with that data.
When an app attempts to access files from another app, like your contacts db, Mt Lion will display an authorization alert. So before dismissing an alert, fully read it first. This will become more common as OS X, Apple & third party apps are fully sandboxed
They want info on us whether we are comfortable giving it to them or not. Why else deliberately side-step my privacy settings?
This is why Google offers "free services". They want their greasy fingers in every area of your life. The advertisers are their real customers, not us. Google see you and I as nothing more than food for their real customers.
I just bought the RRS app "Reeder" for Mac OS and iOS. It's a great app, but you are "required" to sign in with Google. What is that all about? I don't care about logging in on a web browser to check my RRS feeds. I don't need it and I don't want it. There is NO reason for signing into Google to be mandatory, except that Google wants to know what's in my RRS feed.
Ask for a refund, explain why, also tell the company that you immediately revoke all prior agreements made with them either real or implied to gather and access information about you and that that you want any such information about you immediately removed from their servers.
If people don't speak up these third parties will continue acting as proxies for Google's web of deceit.
Meanwhile in Australia (the UK, France, Germany and others) Google shows a similar amount of disdain for privacy laws.
Google willfully engineered a way around the do not track feature, violating user's wishes. Think of all the privacy protections that Google is bypassing on its Android phones. If they have no regard for one user, then Google has the same disregard for all users privacy. Android is nothing more than an advertising platform for them. Google receives no direct revenue from a free OS, they make money by tracking Android user's activities & selling that data to any bidder that wants to market to them
What nonsense. Not only is your description completely false, bearing no relation to reality, but Google's actions were certainly intentional, and not at all "inadvertent". Not only that, but Google's statement is nothing but self-serving double speak -- i.e., a lie.
Maybe it's time to trot out the "rogue engineer" again.
Hey Google, if you're listening I'm available for the "rogue engineer" role as long as I don't have to do anything and am paid a few million a year to be your patsy.
Stop and look around. Scroll to the top of this page. Go back to the home page of this site. Look all around this place. Everywhere you go, the free services this site provides are - OMG! - paid for with advertising.
Sure, most of the ads on this site are so stupidly implemented that they don't rely on cookies, like the ones that attempt to sell the Nexus 7 to this Apple fan audience.
But if you use a good browser that offers cookie-watching plugins, take a gander at how ad networks work. Not just on Google. Everywhere. Even Appleinsider....
Advertise whatever you want JUST DON'T GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT ME TO TARGET IT.
Stop and look around. Scroll to the top of this page. Go back to the home page of this site. Look all around this place. Everywhere you go, the free services this site provides are - OMG! - paid for with advertising.
Sure, most of the ads on this site are so stupidly implemented that they don't rely on cookies, like the ones that attempt to sell the Nexus 7 to this Apple fan audience.
But if you use a good browser that offers cookie-watching plugins, take a gander at how ad networks work. Not just on Google. Everywhere. Even Appleinsider....
I think a lot of readers of AppleInsider are actually interested in the Nexus 7. I certainly am. It's cheap, has the latest OS, is highly portable, offers decent build quality, etc.
Holding me back: I don't have a smartphone with tethering so a WiFi only mobile device is of limited use; I don't want a Google account so I wouldn't be able to download any apps or other content; I can't justify spending $200 right now.
Advertise whatever you want JUST DON'T GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT ME TO TARGET IT.
Bingo!!
Google, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN and every other damn web site or service on the planet CAN survive without profiling individuals. They just won't be AS profitable as they are right now and plan to be with massive personal profiling. It's always been easy to place ads for diapers on web sites or blogs that cater to parents of babies, for example. That's different from gathering personal information about individuals, specific computers or IP addresses.
I am SOOOO happy to read threads like this one, where almost everyone has at least seen the light, even if they can't (or don't know how to) get completely out of these "service provider" products. I've been preaching on this topic for years, and it seems that only over the past year or so people are starting to wake up. The question is, how long will it take for this understanding to 1) propagate outside the techie circles, and 2) result in REAL user behavioral change. People may not like being tracked, but most people don't seem to be able to wean themselves from these services, especially "free" email.
For example, how many of you use gmail?? THAT is the most invasive product on the planet, probably even more so that gsearch, because of the level of detail people include in emails and the people/organizations they communicate with.
While the fine may be small, do people think that's the end?
What are the odds some privacy rights lawyer is going to try and get a class-action lawsuit started to go after Google. Since Google agreed to pay the fine they've admitted guilt. There's no need to have a trial to prove they did something wrong - all they need os to get a bunch of people to complain about their rights being violated.
Comments
Grrrrrr...but I really like Google's Chrome browser.
Judging by the reactions of people in this thread I can only assume that; a) you have no idea what was actually happening in this case and b) you have no idea that your ISP is not only watching everything you do on the internet but retaining that data should the government and others want it in the future.
Yeah, I am worried about Google.
-kpluck
Quote:
Originally Posted by bighype
Google's the most evil company. They've paid more privacy-related fines than any other tech company in the history.
MOST evil? Please. Remember Enron? Being unethical is different than being criminal...(though it's a dubious distinction).
I think Google's the web's equivalent of big tobacco...minus death. People just accepted their practices because no one really understood the problems or dangers, but now the world is cracking down. Now Google is trying to cover up mistakes or practices. Whether the cover up is to spare the bad PR or exploit a situation as long as possible, they had better wake up quick. They cannot continue to operate their advertising business this way without the chants of "evil" growing louder and louder. The fines will get steeper and resulting regulations will make life miserable.
Tobacco take two.
I believe it's "don't be evil", but close enough. Steve Jobs knows better. He looked into Eric Schmidt's cold dead eyes and saw nothing but an empty void staring back at him. And Steve knew what he had to do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crunch
Grrrrrr...but I really like Google's Chrome browser.
As long as you don't buy a Chromebook, don't buy apps from the Chrome Web Store, and change your default search in Chrome to Bing (or whatever you prefer), Google won't make a dime off you using Chrome.
The browser is open source and everyone can see what the code is doing. Exploiting users through the browser is a low I am sure Google wouldn't sink to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kpluck
Judging by the reactions of people in this thread I can only assume that; a) you have no idea what was actually happening in this case and b) you have no idea that your ISP is not only watching everything you do on the internet but retaining that data should the government and others want it in the future.
Yeah, I am worried about Google.
-kpluck
I understand what you are saying, but I do not have an option as far as what virtually all of the internet providers do. I do however have a problem with Google or other companies deliberately circumventing my privacy settings. If there is something that I can do to keep them out of my business, I'm going to do it. For the record, I don't have a huge problem with a certain amount of targeted advertising, I just want to control what information goes out, to whom and how often it happens.
If you want to take things a bit further, your credit card companies track everything you buy, where you buy it, where you dine, what car you drive, where you buy your gas, how often you travel and to what destinations etc. That information is worth $$. Travel companies for example might like to know that someone holidays every March to the Carribean, so they can send out some targeted advertising material.
At the end of the day, we have very little privacy and what privacy we do have is tough to enforce.
Enforcing privacy requires government intervention, like what the FTC did. We need laws like the EU data directive, which gives a person editorial control over their data. We need laws that go even further. Market forces cannot secure privacy, only government intervention can.
But right now, under the current laws, privacy doesn't exist. The government, regardless of your country of origin, knows everything about you, and you have no recourse against what they do with that data.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bilbo63
They want info on us whether we are comfortable giving it to them or not. Why else deliberately side-step my privacy settings?
This is why Google offers "free services". They want their greasy fingers in every area of your life. The advertisers are their real customers, not us. Google see you and I as nothing more than food for their real customers.
I just bought the RRS app "Reeder" for Mac OS and iOS. It's a great app, but you are "required" to sign in with Google. What is that all about? I don't care about logging in on a web browser to check my RRS feeds. I don't need it and I don't want it. There is NO reason for signing into Google to be mandatory, except that Google wants to know what's in my RRS feed.
Ask for a refund, explain why, also tell the company that you immediately revoke all prior agreements made with them either real or implied to gather and access information about you and that that you want any such information about you immediately removed from their servers.
If people don't speak up these third parties will continue acting as proxies for Google's web of deceit.
Meanwhile in Australia (the UK, France, Germany and others) Google shows a similar amount of disdain for privacy laws.
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/432980/google_australia_must_destroy_street_view_data_privacy_commissioner_/
deleted
Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymouse
What nonsense. Not only is your description completely false, bearing no relation to reality, but Google's actions were certainly intentional, and not at all "inadvertent". Not only that, but Google's statement is nothing but self-serving double speak -- i.e., a lie.
Maybe it's time to trot out the "rogue engineer" again.
Hey Google, if you're listening I'm available for the "rogue engineer" role as long as I don't have to do anything and am paid a few million a year to be your patsy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacRulez
It's far wose than you tihnk.
Stop and look around. Scroll to the top of this page. Go back to the home page of this site. Look all around this place. Everywhere you go, the free services this site provides are - OMG! - paid for with advertising.
Sure, most of the ads on this site are so stupidly implemented that they don't rely on cookies, like the ones that attempt to sell the Nexus 7 to this Apple fan audience.
But if you use a good browser that offers cookie-watching plugins, take a gander at how ad networks work. Not just on Google. Everywhere. Even Appleinsider....
Advertise whatever you want JUST DON'T GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT ME TO TARGET IT.
Chump change.
Wow that ain't shit. For google it's "the cost of doing business". They need to make these fines hurt. It should've been 22.5million * 10.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacRulez
It's far wose than you tihnk.
Stop and look around. Scroll to the top of this page. Go back to the home page of this site. Look all around this place. Everywhere you go, the free services this site provides are - OMG! - paid for with advertising.
Sure, most of the ads on this site are so stupidly implemented that they don't rely on cookies, like the ones that attempt to sell the Nexus 7 to this Apple fan audience.
But if you use a good browser that offers cookie-watching plugins, take a gander at how ad networks work. Not just on Google. Everywhere. Even Appleinsider....
I think a lot of readers of AppleInsider are actually interested in the Nexus 7. I certainly am. It's cheap, has the latest OS, is highly portable, offers decent build quality, etc.
Holding me back: I don't have a smartphone with tethering so a WiFi only mobile device is of limited use; I don't want a Google account so I wouldn't be able to download any apps or other content; I can't justify spending $200 right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacRulez
like the ones that attempt to sell the Nexus 7 to this Apple fan audience.
Perhaps they figured people couldn't tell the difference.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hill60
Advertise whatever you want JUST DON'T GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT ME TO TARGET IT.
Bingo!!
Google, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN and every other damn web site or service on the planet CAN survive without profiling individuals. They just won't be AS profitable as they are right now and plan to be with massive personal profiling. It's always been easy to place ads for diapers on web sites or blogs that cater to parents of babies, for example. That's different from gathering personal information about individuals, specific computers or IP addresses.
I am SOOOO happy to read threads like this one, where almost everyone has at least seen the light, even if they can't (or don't know how to) get completely out of these "service provider" products. I've been preaching on this topic for years, and it seems that only over the past year or so people are starting to wake up. The question is, how long will it take for this understanding to 1) propagate outside the techie circles, and 2) result in REAL user behavioral change. People may not like being tracked, but most people don't seem to be able to wean themselves from these services, especially "free" email.
For example, how many of you use gmail?? THAT is the most invasive product on the planet, probably even more so that gsearch, because of the level of detail people include in emails and the people/organizations they communicate with.
While the fine may be small, do people think that's the end?
What are the odds some privacy rights lawyer is going to try and get a class-action lawsuit started to go after Google. Since Google agreed to pay the fine they've admitted guilt. There's no need to have a trial to prove they did something wrong - all they need os to get a bunch of people to complain about their rights being violated.
Originally Posted by EricTheHalfBee
While the fine may be small, do people think that's the end?
Yep. It's Google.
What are the odds some privacy rights lawyer is going to try and get a class-action lawsuit started to go after Google.
Slim. Since it's Google.
Since Google agreed to pay the fine they've admitted guilt.
Ah, but they didn't. That was specifically stated on the radio; they did not admit to anything but simply paid. Payment doesn't imply guilt.