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Google From the Net 2U
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Google's Watching us. Should we be Watching Google?
Author:
Carl Mitchell
'If you have something that you don\'t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn\'t be doing it in the first place.' Eric Schmidt, CEO Google on CNBC.
Let\'s face it Google is an indispensible part of the Web. Its many services such as Chrome, Gmail, Buzz and Street View are a part of our everyday browsing habits. Google is also, of course, one of the most successful companies in the world. According to finance.yahoo.com Google made more than $2 billion in the last quarter of 2009 and this is up 17from the previous quarter. Moreover, Google has expanded its reach with its Chrome browser and through its ownership of YouTube and Doubleclick.
Google also collects and stores copious amounts of data on user\'s which it claims is necessary for it in order to be more efficient and more useful for web browsing. Lately, though, I and many others are beginning to be creeped out by how Google handles this data, much of it very personal, and Google\'s seeming lack of respect for the privacy of its users. The statement above from Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, alone gives me pause as to whether Google indeed does respect the privacy of its users.
Let\'s take four of its most popular site tools – Chrome, Gmail, Buzz, and Street View all of which have come under fire by everyone from privacy rights advocates to governmental bodies to private citizens. With Chrome, Google\'s own proprietary browser it introduced in late 2008, the concern is about the unique ID assigned to it during installation. Many people are concerned that this ID is being used to keep track of individual users. This concern has been so great that according to softpedia Google has announced that it is removing this ID after the first update of the Chrome browser on a user\'s computer. I never use it. I use Firefox.
Next, is Gmail. If I had a dollar for all the times I\'ve checked my email account simply to find some bullshit ad that is sort of related to the content of my inbox I\'d be a millionaire. This happens because Google automatically scans the content of your e-mails and adds context-sensitive advertisements to them. This involves of course scanning the mail of non-subscribers to Gmail. Creepy. This is particularly distressing because Google\'s scanning and retention of this information facilitates hacking, like the Chinese hacker attack on Gmail in earlier this year.
Next there is Buzz, Google\'s social networking and messaging tool. The criticism is that Buzz allows for the violation of user privacy by allowing Gmail users\' contacts to view their other contacts. This has lead to actions such as:
· Privacy commissioners from countries including Germany, Canada, and the U.K. sending to a letter to Google CEO Eric Schmidt\'s saying that company 'failed to take adequate account of privacy considerations' when launching Google Buzz. The letter is here:
· According to the San Francisco Chronicle, law firms in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. have filed a suit on behalf of Eva Hibnick and other Gmail users who feel that Buzz has shared their personal data without their consent.
· In March 2010, a group of US congressmen asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Google\'s Buzz for breaching privacy and trust.
Finally there is Google\'s creepiest product of all - its online map service, Street View which provides satellite images of various locations in the world. People have accused it of taking pictures and coming too close inside people\'s private homes without them knowing it. One example is that according to the Telegraph Google Street View allowed for images of a partially nude child who had been on a family day out to go live throughout the Internet. Google ultimately apologized and removed the images. While it\'s true that people can request their homes be removed from Street View, in this case it would not have helped.
Google\'s massive collection and apparent misuse of data on and about individuals has not been ignored by those seeking to protect consumer privacy. Some recent actions against Google and its various products include:
· In February 2003, Google Watch nominated Google for a Big Brother Award, describing Google as a 'privacy time bomb.'
· In February 2010, three Google executives were handed six-month suspended sentences for breach of the Italian Personal Data Protection Code.
· In its 2007 Consultation Report, Privacy International ranked Google as 'Hostile to Privacy', its lowest rating on their report, making Google the only company in the list to receive that ranking.
· Google has been asked by the European Union to reduce the time it stores its Street View images from 12 months to 6 months in the interest of privacy.
· Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic), filed a complaint with the FTC in February, about Google Buzz in March.
Then there is the question of how Google handles the personal user data itself. A recent Washington Post article reveals that Google received more than 3000 request for user information from July 2009 – December 2009. However, there is no information on how many of these requests were honored or other details. There is also a report coming out of The Washington Post that Google is negotiating an information-sharing agreement with the National Security Agency (NSA) — the world\'s largest network for routine, mass communications surveillance. I don\'t want to join the tinfoil hat crowd but I am deeply concerned with this as well as other actions by Google. Does anyone else remember in early 2005 when the DOJ filed a motion for 'the text of each search string entered onto Google\'s search engine over a two-month period (absent any information identifying the person who entered such query)?'
In order to address some of the dangers of this spreading around of like identity theft, stalking, malware and spyware among other Web nasties we should be more conscious of what information we are submitting to sites like Google. The ultimate solution rests with stronger legal protections of our information in cyberspace. On the subject of privacy concerns, I am in rare agreement with right wingers on this one – I trust the government with this much information on me. I don\'t like that people are seen as bits of information to be bartered about like so many pieces of gold. We are seen as objects to be spied upon by satellites that can virtually look into our homes. The biggest threats to privacy come not just from information brokers but from people who don\'t understand or respect individual privacy rights. Mr. Schmidt it isn\'t about having something to hide; it\'s about having something to protect. Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/cyber-law-articles/google039s-watching-us-should-we-be-watching-google-2244928.html About the Author
I am a native Missourian with a B.A. in English and minors in creative writing and Journalism. I attended the University of Missouri and edited have several newspapers and newsletters. I have worked in several fields but lately have worked in the legal field (not an attorney). My site its www.myhumbleopinion.org
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