Generally, I'm not one of those that actually care much about privacy. Not that I don't value it. But in today's 'cloud' world, its inevitable that someone, somewhere will have a bit more control over your information that you would like. You phone records are stored at the phone company (and they can monitor any of your calls). You salary is clearly recorded in the books of you bank. Your cellphone movements are clearly tracked and your geographical position is know (more or less) every minute of that day.
So when people ask me "How can we trust Google with our email and docs, web history, etc.", I try to explain to them that you can't. But then again, who can you trust? Are you sure that your smiley friendly bus driver isn't working as an informant for some private eye, reporting every time you get on or off the bus? Can you prove that your favorite coffee place isn't reporting your coffee addiction to the IRS, as proof that you have undeclared income (c'mmon! there is no way you can really afford $4.50 lattes in this economy! Unless your making a little extra something on the side...)? And we all know about wikileakes...
What I'm trying to say is that, inasmuch as I would not post my password on the internet, and inasmuch as would NOT like it if you read my email, we all know that Google scans your email to display relevant ads. And, honestly, have you never clicked Web History - even just to see how many web searches you've done in your google life time? (I've got: 19180). They have a ton of information in there about you. I know that. We all know that. And I'm sure that somewhere in the legal fine print that now-one bothers to read when we sign up, we consented to that as well.
What I did find surprising though is this: apparently, every time Google serves you ad's, they also take a peek at your history. Yup, heard right. The take a look at your browsing history. It seems that at the moment they "only" read the amount of pages in your history, but they can theoretically read the entire history and every single site you visited.
If you've been following this long, you know that I'm not so adverse to Google knowing where I buy my underwear or how I like to spice my chicken (sesame or lemon). They know that anyway: either by reading the order confirmation emails, or usually because they referred me to the site in the first place! But all this is, at least theoretically, with my consent. However Google doesn't make you sign a legal document before it serves you ads (and if they did, who would consent ;) ). At any given time, they can have a peek at your web history (not just the count), and keep tabs on you - even if you don't use any of there products!
I'm not saying that they do - but the prospects sure are spooky.
Moshe Brevda, FreePBX Development Team
lazytt - FreePBX forums
hi365 - IRC
So when people ask me "How can we trust Google with our email and docs, web history, etc.", I try to explain to them that you can't. But then again, who can you trust? Are you sure that your smiley friendly bus driver isn't working as an informant for some private eye, reporting every time you get on or off the bus? Can you prove that your favorite coffee place isn't reporting your coffee addiction to the IRS, as proof that you have undeclared income (c'mmon! there is no way you can really afford $4.50 lattes in this economy! Unless your making a little extra something on the side...)? And we all know about wikileakes...
What I'm trying to say is that, inasmuch as I would not post my password on the internet, and inasmuch as would NOT like it if you read my email, we all know that Google scans your email to display relevant ads. And, honestly, have you never clicked Web History - even just to see how many web searches you've done in your google life time? (I've got: 19180). They have a ton of information in there about you. I know that. We all know that. And I'm sure that somewhere in the legal fine print that now-one bothers to read when we sign up, we consented to that as well.
What I did find surprising though is this: apparently, every time Google serves you ad's, they also take a peek at your history. Yup, heard right. The take a look at your browsing history. It seems that at the moment they "only" read the amount of pages in your history, but they can theoretically read the entire history and every single site you visited.
If you've been following this long, you know that I'm not so adverse to Google knowing where I buy my underwear or how I like to spice my chicken (sesame or lemon). They know that anyway: either by reading the order confirmation emails, or usually because they referred me to the site in the first place! But all this is, at least theoretically, with my consent. However Google doesn't make you sign a legal document before it serves you ads (and if they did, who would consent ;) ). At any given time, they can have a peek at your web history (not just the count), and keep tabs on you - even if you don't use any of there products!
I'm not saying that they do - but the prospects sure are spooky.
Moshe Brevda, FreePBX Development Team
lazytt - FreePBX forums
hi365 - IRC
5 comments:
You could do what I do... use multiple Google accounts, keep web history disabled, and do your searches from a non-logged-in browser. You could also try the Track Me Not Firefox add-on to obfuscate your searches.
@Logical Extremes: In case I was unclear: I have no problem with Google reading the information that I provided them with. My point was that when they serve you ads (usual on a 3rd party website), being that they are running js on the page, they have instant access to your entire browsing history - with out ever asking or warning you!
You said Google scans your email to provide relevant ads. So you think other email providers don't, right? How the heck do they filter your spam then? It's not just address based, it's content based too.
bottom line - Every email provider that offers spam filtering scans your email. And even if they don't offer spam filtering, how can you be sure they're not scanning it? It's there, on their servers, they can do whatever they want to, with it. If you're so concerned, don't use the Internet. Nobody's forcing you to. Sorry if the comment was too harsh.
NO - not harsh at all! I agree that all web-mail providers can read you email. You probably agreed to that specifically as well when you signed up and clicked "I AGREE". My point was when Google serves ads on a site that you never had an agreement with (such as a news site where you don't have an EULA), they can theoretically read your entire web history (which sites you visited, how many times, etc.)
But theoretically every site you visit can do that, even if they don't have Google ads.
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