Google official calls Apple trustworthy, but jokes iOS Maps users are risking their lives

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Google's technology ambassador said in an interview that he trusts Apple and Microsoft in handling personal data, but joked that Apple Maps users were taking their lives in their own hands using the company's much-maligned mapping app.

In an interview with Australian Broadcasting Corporation show "One Plus One," Michael T. Jones answered ? and occasionally parried ? a range of questions on the importance of privacy in the information era as well as concerns over so much personal information being gathered and held by large, multinational corporations such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.

Mike Jones
Google technology ambassador Michael T. Jones speaks with "One Plus One."


Privacy has been a major issue for both Google and Apple in recent years, as both companies produce hardware and software products that store increasingly granular data on users behaviors, preferences, personal lives, and locations. The Federal Trade Commission recently recommended that both firms do more to protect children's privacy in kids' apps. The Commission also fined Google last year for circumventing privacy protections built into Apple's Safari web browser.

"I think it's a matter of you only work with people that you trust," Jones said when pressed on whether he sees any danger in these large organizations holding an increasing amount of data on individual behaviors. "I certainly trust Apple, and I trust Google, and I trust Microsoft, for that matter. These are not corrupt organizations; these are nice people trying to serve you. In the case of Google, everyone does it voluntarily. You do a search, you could have gone to somebody else; you came to us. If you thought we might betray you, you wouldn't come to us. So we stand to lose $30 billion or more the moment people lose trust in us."

"I certainly trust Apple, and I trust Google, and I trust Microsoft, for that matter. These are not corrupt organizations; these are nice people trying to serve you."
?Michael T. Jones, Google Chief Technology Advocate


Jones was less kind to Google's Cupertino rival when it came to mapping, ribbing Apple for the ongoing issues with its new Maps app, which replaced Google's app as the default option with iOS 6.

"I think you should be worried about getting where you want to go if you use Apple Maps," he said, parrying another question on personal information. "If you want to be honest, you're taking your life in your own hands there."

Jones' joke referred to reports from last year that police in Victoria, Australia, had issued warnings to motorists telling them that Apple's iOS 6 Maps app had caused a number of travelers to become stranded in a remote national park. The error was due to iOS Maps incorrectly displaying Mildura more than 40 miles southeast of its actual location. At the time, police said conditions in the location could make the mapping inaccuracy a "potentially life-threatening issue."

Coming back to the question at hand, Jones sought to allay concerns over how much data large companies hold on their users, specifically in the case of Google.

"I think it's overrated at times, the insight these companies have. We don't inform on anybody."
?Jones


"What we know is basically public information. I think it's overrated at times, the insight these companies have. We don't inform on anybody. We don't make a value judgment. It's just better information for you. It's the sort of information that a concierge might give you at a hotel. You ask for information on a restaurant and you're wearing a tuxedo or a bathing suit, they might give you different information... It's not that deep."

Jones also touched on the future of computing, saying he believes wearable technology ? such as Google Glass and similar tech from Apple ? is the way forward.

"There are seven billion people. Two billion of them have Internet, but four billion of them have mobile telephones. So, really, the day of the computer is over as far as consumers are concerned; the day of the mobile device is the new day, and what I see as happening is that that device is going to become ever more intimate... You won't have it in your pocket. It'll be in your glasses, in your ear, essentially a part of one of your sensory organs."

Summing up, Jones said consumers had a choice on where they could turn if they wanted the services Apple, Google, Facebook, and others provide. Even though those companies operate in an American corporate environment, they could, according to Jones, be better than the alternative.

"Who do you trust more: Google or your mayor?"
?Jones


"I think you should decide: Do you want the world's information coming to you? If you do, it's got to come from one of two sources: either your government or the United Nations or some other government, or from a company. Who do you trust more: Google or your mayor?"

He went on to tout Google's record as trustworthy.

"I think, to be truthful, we have a pretty unblemished record of serving every human... What I would like to be judged on is our actual behavior. I think we've gotten an A, maybe an A+."
«13456

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 111


    I find Apple maps to be very good for my uses.  

  • Reply 2 of 111
    Guess he conveniently missed this memo... "Police: Google Maps giving dangerous directions, too
    Days after Australian police warn about Apple Maps, they lodge a similar complaint against Google."

    http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-maps-giving-dangerous-directions-too/
  • Reply 3 of 111


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ghostface147



    I find Apple maps to be very good for my uses.


     


    Same here. Have had zero issues.

  • Reply 4 of 111
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Google, Apple Maps may be imperfect but it never had me cross 5 lanes if traffic, cross a median, and make an illegal left turn all from a side street like Google Maps did.
  • Reply 5 of 111
    bdkennedy1bdkennedy1 Posts: 1,459member
    "If you want to be honest, you're taking your life in your own hands there."

    Whatever.
  • Reply 6 of 111
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by starbird73 View Post



    dupe - sorry


    Ummm... he was lightening the conversation, tossing in a joke. It sounds as tho he paid a number of compliments to Apple during the interview.


     


    BTW if you're curious who he is there's a short bio here:


    http://www.googleventures.com/team/michael-jones

  • Reply 7 of 111
    'Better safe than Siri' would have been a great headline for an Fandroid site regarding the 'safety' nonsense.
  • Reply 8 of 111


    Google is starting to feel the pain of losing the default Maps position on iOS to Apple Maps.


     


    Wait until they lose search and maps on both iOS and Mac OS X.


     


    Time will tell.

  • Reply 9 of 111
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gatorguy View Post


    Ummm... he was lightening the conversation, tossing in a joke. It sounds as tho he paid a number of compliments to Apple during the interview.


     


    BTW if you're curious who he is there's a short bio here:


    http://www.googleventures.com/team/michael-jones



     


    No, he was spinning BS, you know, like you do. Couching it in a "joke" doesn't make it any less insidious, or disingenuous. But, then, by now, everyone is used to Google lying every time they open their mouths.

  • Reply 10 of 111
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by starbird73 View Post



    Guess he conveniently missed this memo... "Police: Google Maps giving dangerous directions, too

    Days after Australian police warn about Apple Maps, they lodge a similar complaint against Google."



    http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-maps-giving-dangerous-directions-too/


     


    One of many over the years

  • Reply 11 of 111
    The real joke he made wasn't about the maps (starbird73 already noted that Google had the same problem in Australia) but the statement, "I certainly trust Apple, and I trust Google, and I trust Microsoft, for that matter. These are not corrupt organizations; these are nice people trying to serve you." That is hilarious!!
  • Reply 12 of 111

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anonymouse View Post


     


    No, he was spinning BS, you know, like you do. Couching it in a "joke" doesn't make it any less insidious, or disingenuous. But, then, by now, everyone is used to Google lying every time they open their mouths.



    Right. I get that it was said in jest, but it wasn't a "joke" - it was s dig at Apple. I have this belief that - be it politicians, C level executives, or any employee of a company that is speaking on that employee's behalf - Taking pot shots directly at your competition is not the best use of your time. Explain to me why you are superior. And, yes, this goes for the "I'm a Mac" ads. They were funny, highlighted perceived truths or "failures" of Windows, and pointed out how the Mac was better. But at least they were pointing out their benefits, not just "Get a Mac, that Windows PC is deadly"

  • Reply 13 of 111
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post



    Google, Apple Maps may be imperfect but it never had me cross 5 lanes if traffic, cross a median, and make an illegal left turn all from a side street like Google Maps did.


     


    Add into that going the wrong way down that side street which was a one way and ending up 10 miles from the right location because they had the building listed as North whatever and not South

  • Reply 14 of 111
    charlitunacharlituna Posts: 7,217member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by starbird73 View Post


    Right. I get that it was said in jest, but it wasn't a "joke" - it was s dig at Apple. I have this belief that - be it politicians, C level executives, or any employee of a company that is speaking on that employee's behalf - Taking pot shots directly at your competition is not the best use of your time. 



     


    Not to mention it can backfire because you look like a dirtbag. 

  • Reply 15 of 111
    HA HA!

    No, really, we are good. Look over there!
  • Reply 16 of 111

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ghostface147 View Post


    I find Apple maps to be very good for my uses.  





    so do i. it's never gotten me lost around my own city.

  • Reply 17 of 111
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member

    Quote:


    "I think you should be worried about getting where you want to go if you use Apple Maps," he said, parrying another question on personal information. "If you want to be honest, you're taking your life in your own hands there."



     


     


    LOL what??


     


    Defamation. 


     


    smh

  • Reply 18 of 111

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bdkennedy1 View Post



    "If you want to be honest, you're taking your life in your own hands there."



    Whatever.


    It was a joke. And actually, exactly the kind of joke that Jobs would have made in a keynote.

  • Reply 19 of 111
    rob55rob55 Posts: 1,291member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    "I think you should be worried about getting where you want to go if you use Apple Maps," he said, parrying another question on personal information. "If you want to be honest, you're taking your life in your own hands there."

     


     


    Give the users a little credit, will ya.

  • Reply 20 of 111
    vqrovqro Posts: 66member


    Stupid google is on a propaganda campaign against apple.  They're all taking turns being snarky, smug and insulting.  Well F U google.

Sign In or Register to comment.