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Re: [PLUG] OT: Why bashing Google?...
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Hi:
* Gordon Dexter <gordon@texasdex.com> [2008-12-02 16:55:06 -0500]:
> Fred Stluka wrote:
> > 1. What has Google done to violate your trust?
> >
> > 2. What are you concerned that Google may do in the future?
> >
> > 3. Is Google better/worse than most companies in these regards?
> >
> I don't think there's anything specific that I could point to that would
> answer those questions. They never released search histories like AOL,
> or carelessly lost credit card info like Target. The worst I've seen
> them accused of is being complicit in Chinese censorship, and I don't
> really think they have all that much ability to change the policy of a
> foreign government. But I still understand why some people are
> uncomfortable with Google. The amount of personal information they
> collect is just staggering, and there's a lot of potential for it to be
> misused. There's no evidence that they have actually done so, but
> things like their AdWords in gmail give people the heebie-jeebies, even
> if their personal information is kept completely safe and private.
>
> I personally think Google does a lot of neat stuff, but I'm wary in what
> personal info I share with them, and I made sure I understood their
> privacy policies. I haven't seen anything that really scares me while
> reading them but people have different comfort levels. A paranoid
> corporation, for example, might have good reason to avoid their
> appliance, perhaps to protect trade secrets, contract details, or some
> other form of highly confidential data that needs protection beyond an
> individual's profile data.
Excellent post. I like their stuff too, but... such a concentration of
knowledge/power is scary, even if not misused so far.
Regards,
--
Mark M. Hoffman
mhoffman@lightlink.com
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