Inside Google

[Echo In Light]

From Mark Crispin Miller's blog:

CINDY -

Unbelievable. This past week Google street cars were caught spying on neighborhood WiFi networks. Google’s former executive, now in the White House, got reprimanded for his inappropriate emails to the company. The FTC appears to be opening a new investigation into privacy problems at Google.

These are just a few of the reasons we are launching our new site Inside Google. We love Google services, but we are very worried about its power over our online lives and threats to our privacy.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said recently, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” That’s just not right.

Inside Google is an effort to open up Google’s black box and hold the company accountable for how it tracks us online and stores our data without our permission. You can help us by visiting Inside Google and subscribing to its alerts

http://markcrispinmiller.com/2010/05/inside-google/

http://insidegoogle.com/

[Luminous Animal]

1. K and R

[waiting for hope]

2. K&R

Like our school systems being systematically taken over by private entities, our privacy is being sold out from under us as well.

[Brickbat]

3. I don't want to be a total dumbass, but I don't get what's objectionable about Schmidt's quote.

[Spheric]

4. It's nobody's business but my own what medications I take...

whom I associate with or date, what products I purchase, how much I sold my car for, how many glasses of wine I had after dinner last night, or any number of other bits of personal information. If I choose to share this information, that's one thing. But, I don't want Google or anyone else following me around spying on me. Especially if they don't even share with me what information they are collecting.

The internet is no different.

[Recursion]

7. But the Internet is different; the problem is people think it isn't

The Internet is not a diary or the US Mail: it's a network of computers, and people shouldn't expect data they don't cryptographically secure to be private. (They do expect that, but they shouldn't.)

[Statistical]

8. If you don't share that info then Google can't index it.

Pretty simple.

And if you do choose it Google likely will index it. Not out of spite but simply because they index everything.
They have even indexed classified material when the govt screwed up and put it online.

If it is online it is public. If you don't want it public don't put it online.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

5. I want to know if you had sex with your SO yesterday. -nt

[HillWilliam]

11. At my age, I'd like to know if I had sex with my SO

yesterday, too. And can somebody tell me -- was I still good? :rofl:

[dmr]

12. Google it.

Post what you find.

:rofl:

[HillWilliam]

15. That could take a while

Y'know how many nekkid bearpics Teh Google can offer up on a single query?

I ain't sayin' I'm IN any of them, I'm just sayin' I've got research to do... time's a-wastin... :D

[dmr]

17. Yikes! Don't Google that!

I just did, for fun, Googled nekkid bearpics. OMG! I know that is not you!
:rofl:

[leftstreet]

19. Google, always helpful. "Did you mean to search for NAKED bear pics?"

Oh my goodness. Is that him?

:rofl:

[HillWilliam]

21. It ain't me. He ain't the first

But he could be next! :rofl:

[dmr]

23. You crack me up!

:rofl:

[dmr]

22. Well, I used his spelling.

I'm afraid to re-Google with correct spelling.

Oh, hell, I just did. His spelling garners worse results! Poor guy.
:rofl:

[Soylent Brice]

20. if you mean out of breath and having heart palpatations as good, then yes. n/t

[TorchTheWitch]

33. bwaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha!!!

Damn, that nearly made me fall out of my chair (and I'm pretty well anchored... ya might even say "taken root").

Thanks, I needed a good laugh!

[Brickbat]

16. My SO knows.

It's not something I'm the only one who knows.

[HillWilliam]

27. We have no neighbors within earshot

As my SO says, you can have fun and you can be fun. I'll say no more because I won't be the one to lock the thread LOL

There are benefits to living waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy out in the sticks!

[Brickbat]

29. I know what you're saying!

We live way out, too. ;)

[gmoney]

18. well, it's the old "rationale" for taking away privacy rights

"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear."

[Shanti Mama]

34. "if you're innocent then you won't mind me searching through your house"

and other erosions of privacy.

[DainBramaged]

6. Google toolbar, the WORST piece of shit you can possibly install

violates every know idea of privacy, allows YOUR location to be broadcast to advertisers (ever wonder why ads on M$NBC front page are targeted at towns you live in or AROUND you????) and even after you turn off features, magically, they get turned on again the next time they 'update' their software.

Fucking clowns.

[TK421]

9. I had it for a time...I uninstalled the piece of garbage because it was

actually SLOWING this computer down...quite a bit, in fact

ranks up there with some of the biggest pieces of shit they try to sell you

[Statistical]

10. You geolocation isn't anything new.

Your ISP sold you out a LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG time ago.

Geologocation uses the ip addresses to determine where you are connecting to internet from.

For example if the ip address range 203.38.392.xxx is located in Virginia Beach, VA and your IP address is in that range..... you are connecting from Virginia Beach, VA.

Pretty simple to geo-target ads these days.

This company did it back in dark ages of 1999. They built a database of the majority of IP addresses used in the United States and provides access as a service to advertising and other companies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geobytes

[tbyg52]

26. I ain't installing Chrome, either.

Not when you have to jump through hoops to uninstall their installer/updater.

[saracat]

13. K+R

[leftstreet]

14. K&R

[Snarkoleptic]

24. Google is rotten

Here's a safe search engine that saves no data.
www.scroogle.org


Great article on Eric Schmidt of Google
"...the web was buzzing with commentary about Google CEO Eric Schmidt's dangerous, dismissive response to concerns about search engine users' privacy. When asked during an interview for CNBC's recent "Inside the Mind of Google" special about whether users should be sharing information with Google as if it were a "trusted friend," Schmidt responded, "If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place."
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/12/google-ceo-eric-schmidt-dismisses-privacy

[laughingliberal]

25. K & R nt

[jtracy]

28. Google motto when founded: "Don't be evil"

Now: "Evil rocks."

Use an anonymous search engine like Ixquick instead.

[Quantess]

30. K & R

[RandomThoughts]

31. If google CEO feels that way.

Then they have to open all their information up, sounds like that is what he is saying, and it sounds pretty cool. Although to be fair to google there should be a base line for stuff like that.

However items that do not have social impact should be private, because it should not be other peoples concern.

However something like google that can modify a society, although not sure if they are doing it, should be opened up to civilian oversight. Nice to hear the CEO is doing that.

Basically his arguement can be made against Google, but not against society. And also information culled like that if used by a few people creates a system that is not fair to people without that information, since it can be used for manipulation.

I get the feeling the google people are not bad, and most people are more good then bad, but google seems to be more balanced on search results from what I have seen.

[begin_within]

32. I've noticed that Google's search results depend on which computer you are at.

They seem to be storing results of previous searches and then customize the search results you get depending on not only what you search for, but the previous searches done from that computer. This seems creepy to me - the search results really ought to be the same for everyone.

[Nikki Stone1]

35. Kick

.