Are Things Closing In On Google?
Or, is Google closing in on things?
“Paranoia Grows Over Google’s Power”
The writer appears, to me and a few others, to have instigated a manner of thinking with this opening statement:
“Google, the world leader in Web search services, is the focus of mounting paranoia over the scope of its powers as it expands into new advertising formats from online video to radio and TV, while creating dozens of new Internet services.”
Does Google make you paranoid?
Is it your opinion that Google can tell what is on your mind?
“the Silicon Valley company has millions of people telling it daily what’s apparently on their minds via simple Web searches, generating mountains of information about consumer behavior.”
I think I like the word “apparently” which doesn’t make it certain Google does know what’s on our minds by what we search for.
I’m not particularly happy about this, and agree;
“Privacy policy activists complain Google’s $3.1 billion plan to acquire DoubleClick, which connects buyers and sellers of online advertising, would double the number of Internet users on which Google keeps tabs to upward of 1 billion.”
But it feels as if many have judged Google to be guilty prior to being charged with a crime and facing due process. Hey folks! Please, correct me if I’m wrong - aren’t there “watchdogs” in effect that will trip alarms if Goog’s is getting out of line?
I also agree, with Google, on this;
“A lot of these things are not about Google in particular but we’ve become the focus of that debate and as a leading company that’s an appropriate role for us to play,” says Peter Fleischer, Google’s global privacy counsel.
Perhaps it is time for anyone, and why not Google, to force the hand of global debate and law-making about privacy in this day and age of technology.
“Google has responded by calling for comprehensive legislation to harmonize laws of various governments, all of which want their say over the World Wide Web. Self-regulation by the Internet industry has not worked, the company says.”
True, and, why not? imho…
“Patchwork regulation is confusing for consumers because they don’t know which privacy regulations should apply in different situations,” Google attorney Wong says of U.S. privacy laws.
Hmmm - please don’t get me started.
“New rules are needed to fend off governments which might try to force companies to divulge customer data, Google argues. It fought off just such a court request by U.S. authorities last year and argues that for the limited purposes it keeps customers’ data, it is a reliable custodian.”
I was thankful they conducted themselves that way last year, weren’t you?
Certainly though, if they were selling Google I’d most definitely want a more than complete investigation, the highest level ever in history, to be conducted prior to consummation to assure they remained a totally reliable custodian of the information they are gathering.
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