Is Google evil?
It owns online search. It almost owns online contextual advertising. It offers ass-kickingly good web-based e-mail and other online applications. And now, Google wants to organize your life.
From the Financial Times article:
Google’s ambition to maximise the personal information it holds on users is so great that the search engine envisages a day when it can tell people what jobs to take and how they might spend their days off.
Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said gathering more personal data was a key way for Google to expand and the company believes that is the logical extension of its stated mission to organise the world’s information.
And no, that’s not some reporter pulling shit out of her ass. There’s a quote saying as much from the company’s chief.
Of course, this begs the question: Is Google evil? And the related questions:
- How much do you trust companies to do the right thing with your data?
- Are you okay with the convenience-for-personal-data trade-off?
Riff on those themes in the comments.
How much do you trust companies to do the right thing with your data?
I expect companies to abide by their respective Privacy Agreements. Of course, those are written with enough legal loopholes for them to exercise “questionable practices”.
Outside of that, businesses are in the game to make money. If exploiting my personal data nets a profit, then I’m not surprised if they exploit that.
Are you okay with the convenience-for-personal-data trade-off?
I need a balance. Which is why I don’t entrust all of my data with one company whether it’s Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, Apple… It’s bad idea in my opinion.
Have you read “Google and the Myth of Universal knowledge”? There are some interesting points about how one company should not have control of all the world’s knowledge (with digitization projects, etc.) but it goes hand in hand with one company gathering all your personal info as well…it’s a movement towards a more homogeneous society. Scary but true..they do what they do well but what are the consequences in the long term? No one thinks about that except maybe the French.
@Anna: That’s on my list of books to read at some point.
@J: I agree with you for the most part. But I still believe companies should respect that your data is yours.
I dunno. I go back and forth. For hundreds of years the only people who any where near the access to the depth and breadth of information, and thereby power, was the wealthy. Now google and other companies are getting wealthy making such information to practically anyone except the very poorest individuals. Granted, we have to provide near total access to information on our pitiful souls to get it, still the playing field continues to level more and more. and I gotta say, when I need information, I like that.