Google's data mining capability is comparable to that of a major government. Just using their search data, they can predict disease outbreaks [0], and can probably predict other macro events like recessions and cultural shifts. Google is just more effective at processing the data that is already collected.
If Google ran the War on Terror, they would dissolve 99.9% of plots before they begin. The falsely accused would have to sit in prison, since they couldn't get anyone on the phone even if they wanted to. That's fine though, because they would get free food and Internet in their Google jail cell, and hear talks by other famous inmates.
Why don't any of these articles put blame on the users, for broadcasting their data without any encryption set up? I guess that's not the exciting news story. They could at least use the opportunity to educate people a bit..
Many regular users - and younger members of society especially (like my younger siblings for example) - have absolutely no concern for privacy or the potential for abuse by companies like Google.
What will it take before the general public understands kind of dangers involved? Or are privacy concerns largely theoretical musings by geeks, which simply aren't as important as we imagine them to be?
What are the dangers? What could be done with this type of information?
There was a similar shift in privacy when banking went electronic and we all got credit cards. Now businesses have vast repositories of extremely detailed purchasing information, and we all accept this surrender of privacy without question.
What's the difference? What has been the impact of the loss of privacy via e-banking?
I do not think the younger members of society do not care about privacy. I think an 18 year old knows full well what he would like to keep private, such as a nude picture of himself, and what to make public, such as a face picture of himself.
They just are not scared of the internet that's all and do not consider fantastic possibilities, but probabilities.
Google has become too big and even powerful, so it is only right that every step, even contemplation of taking a step, is scrutinised closely. That so is being done tells you that many, if not the majority, do understand the importance of privacy.
"Google blamed the collection on a rogue bit of code that was never removed after it had been inserted by an engineer during testing"
I've seen this quoted before. If it's accurate it's pretty damn weak, in fact totally unbelievable. There's absolutely no way this data could have been collected unless deliberately.
Why? Their goal was to collect MAC adresses of all the WiFi hotspots they encountered. If you want to do that you have to – at least temporarily – save all packets that are coming in. The code to do this already exists, Google probably repurposed something. Deleting all the packets you received is a additional step, it’s not guaranteed that whatever they used automatically deletes all received packets as soon as they are no longer needed. Someone has to think of that and fix it.
They are collecting gigabytes of data, so those additional packets wouldn’t exactly be obvious. And they probably just copied the HDDs those cars have wholesale, without any prior processing of the data.
Among other things, they could easily blackmail any public figure who used Google search (or mail, maps, etc.)
There are various ways they could frame this to retain their image...one would be to announce a campaign to crack down on the use of gmail for lawbreaking. Then sweep email for selective incidents involving politicians (and reporters!) threatening Google with regulation, and report to the authorities.
They already do this with child pron, so this would just be moving the bar back towards things that 99% (as opposed to 99.999...%) of society opposed. Escorts are probably a good place to start if you wanted to take down politicians.
No trolling, just a supposition: I'd like to answer this with a movie quote (I just can't recall the movie for some reason) - "...and like it or not, they're going to build you a new civilization, under a new world order."
What can't be done when a single company in the world has, with a multitude of "free" services, crawled into every crevice of your private life? They know who you e-mail and what you mail about. They know your calendar and schedules. They know your economy. They know your medical history. They know who your friends are and what you do on your vacation. They know your hobbies and interests. Traverse the list of Google products and you'll quickly see that every single aspect of your life can now have a Google tag on it.
I'm honestly at a loss, when I try to think of solutions. The most sensible reaction might be to break Google up into smaller companies - which would mean that the benefit it gains from being interconnected would be reduced - but I don't think this would currently be possible.
[+] [-] jakevoytko|15 years ago|reply
If Google ran the War on Terror, they would dissolve 99.9% of plots before they begin. The falsely accused would have to sit in prison, since they couldn't get anyone on the phone even if they wanted to. That's fine though, because they would get free food and Internet in their Google jail cell, and hear talks by other famous inmates.
[0] http://www.google.org/flutrends/
[+] [-] coned88|15 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jmg|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lwhi|15 years ago|reply
What will it take before the general public understands kind of dangers involved? Or are privacy concerns largely theoretical musings by geeks, which simply aren't as important as we imagine them to be?
[+] [-] retube|15 years ago|reply
There was a similar shift in privacy when banking went electronic and we all got credit cards. Now businesses have vast repositories of extremely detailed purchasing information, and we all accept this surrender of privacy without question.
What's the difference? What has been the impact of the loss of privacy via e-banking?
[+] [-] dan00|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ardit20|15 years ago|reply
They just are not scared of the internet that's all and do not consider fantastic possibilities, but probabilities.
Google has become too big and even powerful, so it is only right that every step, even contemplation of taking a step, is scrutinised closely. That so is being done tells you that many, if not the majority, do understand the importance of privacy.
[+] [-] retube|15 years ago|reply
I've seen this quoted before. If it's accurate it's pretty damn weak, in fact totally unbelievable. There's absolutely no way this data could have been collected unless deliberately.
[+] [-] ugh|15 years ago|reply
They are collecting gigabytes of data, so those additional packets wouldn’t exactly be obvious. And they probably just copied the HDDs those cars have wholesale, without any prior processing of the data.
[+] [-] temphn|15 years ago|reply
There are various ways they could frame this to retain their image...one would be to announce a campaign to crack down on the use of gmail for lawbreaking. Then sweep email for selective incidents involving politicians (and reporters!) threatening Google with regulation, and report to the authorities.
They already do this with child pron, so this would just be moving the bar back towards things that 99% (as opposed to 99.999...%) of society opposed. Escorts are probably a good place to start if you wanted to take down politicians.
[+] [-] Ardit20|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hackermom|15 years ago|reply
What can't be done when a single company in the world has, with a multitude of "free" services, crawled into every crevice of your private life? They know who you e-mail and what you mail about. They know your calendar and schedules. They know your economy. They know your medical history. They know who your friends are and what you do on your vacation. They know your hobbies and interests. Traverse the list of Google products and you'll quickly see that every single aspect of your life can now have a Google tag on it.
[+] [-] lwhi|15 years ago|reply
I'm honestly at a loss, when I try to think of solutions. The most sensible reaction might be to break Google up into smaller companies - which would mean that the benefit it gains from being interconnected would be reduced - but I don't think this would currently be possible.