Google Ends Privacy

[Renegade]

Sigh...

Here we go again...

(Seriously... Like WTF?!? This stuff comes out like twice a day now!) 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/24/google-to-update-its-privacy-policies-and-terms-of-service/

The new privacy policy makes clear that for people logged into a Google account, Google can use information shared on one service in other Google services.

“If you’re signed in, we may combine information you’ve provided from one service with information from other services,” Alma Whitten, Google’s director of privacy for product and engineering, wrote in a company blog post . “In short, we’ll treat you as a single user across all our products, which will mean a simpler, more intuitive Google experience.”

There is no opt out as far as I understand.

etc. etc. etc.

[rgdot]

I don't disagree with sentiments about privacy but

Before:
gmail served me ads based on the content of email

Now:
gmail might also base the ads on the youtube video I watched?

Frankly the 'before' is bad enough. In years past it has crossed my mind to leave google, this new policy doesn't really change it all that much.

[Stoic Joker]

Ya know... The more privacy issues that crop up around this target advertising thing ... The more I realize that the 80s tampon commercials weren't nearly as annoying as I'd thought.

[Renegade]

Ya know... The more privacy issues that crop up around this target advertising thing ... The more I realize that the 80s tampon commercials weren't nearly as annoying as I'd thought.

Potentially offensive comment

Yeah... and those were a bloody mess!

[wraith808]

Ya know... The more privacy issues that crop up around this target advertising thing ... The more I realize that the 80s tampon commercials weren't nearly as annoying as I'd thought.

Actually, they were less annoying than the ones today.  They stated their point, and you winced and it was over.  The ones today, you can watch the whole commercial and have no idea of what you were watching until later it goes off while you're doing something else.  And those delayed winces can happen at bad times...

[40hz]

Hasn't Google recently started force-registering you for GMail and Google+ as a condition of creating any new account? (Link here.)

New Google Accounts Require Gmail and Google+

If you try to create a Google account from Google's homepage, you'll notice that Google redesigned the page, but that's not all. You'll now have to create a Gmail account, a Google Profile and you'll automatically join Google+.

Until now, creating a Google account was quite simple. You could either use an existing email address or create a Gmail account. The redesigned form includes new fields: name, gender (required for Google+) and mobile phone number (not required).

They've definitely taken away any anonymity you used to have. And by shoving you into G+, it's also become fairly easy to loose a great deal of privacy if you're not careful.

Jive move Google! When are you merging with Facebook?

[Deozaan]

I don't see what the problem is.

If you use more than one service with Google, you want Google to pretend they don't know that you use those other Google services?

Since when was it a problem for companies who provide you with multiple services to know what services they provide you with and use/consolidate that information in their efforts to provide you service? It's actually quite convenient e.g. for my bank to let me access information about all my accounts at once, including facilitating transfers from one of my accounts to another.

But it seems you'd prefer your bank to only allow you to log into one account at a time and for each account to not know any details about any other accounts you have or even the fact that you have other accounts with the same bank at all.

[Stoic Joker]

Ya know... The more privacy issues that crop up around this target advertising thing ... The more I realize that the 80s tampon commercials weren't nearly as annoying as I'd thought.

Actually, they were less annoying than the ones today.  They stated their point, and you winced and it was over.  The ones today, you can watch the whole commercial and have no idea of what you were watching until later it goes off while you're doing something else.  And those delayed winces can happen at bad times...

Amen to that! Most of the advertising these days leaves you sitting there wondering WTF was that all about? No name, logo, or product mentioned...just a big gush of fan fair about some wondrously unspecified mystery thing.

Quick! Run out and buy a damnifiknow ... Why??!?

[Carol Haynes]

Simple answer is to login to YouTube etc. with a different account.

[mouser]

It's hard for me to get worked up about these privacy issues.. I'm not sure why, they just don't seem to bother me.

Now I happen to think google is out of control and harmful for other reasons i have written about -- and believe that their greed and need to dig their nails deep into every thing in order to ensure they can never be dislodged from their position as an unstoppable advertising machine is disgusting.  But the privacy stuff is the least of my concerns..

[40hz]

Since when was it a problem for companies who provide you with multiple services to know what services they provide you with and use/consolidate that information in their efforts to provide you service? It's actually quite convenient e.g. for my bank to let me access information about all my accounts at once, including facilitating transfers from one of my accounts to another.

Do you feel the same way about Google providing you with different search results based on what they think you're looking for - or more accurately, what they think you should look at first?

Because that's what they now do.

[40hz]

It's hard for me to get worked up about these privacy issues.. I'm not sure why, they just don't seem to bother me.

Possibly because you've already ceded the point to those who don't seem to see what 'your problem' would be with what they're doing either? 

Not a problem. They're glad to see you've finally come around to not being bothered by it.

I think we're all too quickly approaching this way of thinking:

I don't know what will happen, but this seems the time for the big government people to make their push. Their framework is now in place, and their time to act is coming. If they allow another election they know and so does everyone else they will lose their power. This cannot be allowed to happen in their eyes. They have the food prices were they need them. They have the money supply were they need it. They have all the federal agencies they need in place. They have the schools. They have mainstream media in their pocket. And the biggest of all they have the people who believe in the constitution against the wall, and isolated.

(taken from R. Horn's tongue-in-cheek Countering Rules for Radicals)

[rgdot]

Since when was it a problem for companies who provide you with multiple services to know what services they provide you with and use/consolidate that information in their efforts to provide you service? It's actually quite convenient e.g. for my bank to let me access information about all my accounts at once, including facilitating transfers from one of my accounts to another.

Do you feel the same way about Google providing you with different search results based on what they think you're looking for - or more accurately, what they think you should look at first?

Because that's what they now do.

This might be negative for shopping-type results in which case google is not the place to go any way.
Other search - for anything else, let's say searching for freeware - the results have been based on questionable algorithms since day 1.
Now you might say a political search might show certain type of results only, if google go that far they are shooting themselves in the leg and it will the beginning of the end for them.

[cyberdiva]

I don't lead a very exciting or covert life, but I do believe that I should be able to decide what I reveal publicly and what I consider private--both about me and about my family and friends.  Google apparently feels differently. Though I will probably continue to use Gmail and Google Reader, I have stopped using Google+ and have changed my default search engine to Bing or Scroogle.  And while I have been assuming that when I finally buy a tablet and/or a smartphone, I would choose an Android, I'm no longer so sure.  Suddenly the iPad and the iPhone are looking more attractive.  

Apparently absolute power really does corrupt absolutely. 

[mahesh2k]

They collect a lot of personal data for quite some time and now they made it official in order to avoid FTC and EU actions.

Google has keyword research tool that searches keywords typed by surfers, their location, monthly searches from a country, state, region and not to forget frequency of keywords, CPC value, amount of clicks in past and lot more. If you think they dont log IP address and other user specific information, then you're so wrong. You can check basic version of this keyword tool in adwords interface. My point is that if YOU as a non-registered user or random surfer can see this data easily. If keyword extractor tools like keyword tracker, spyfu keyword research and many others can digg data then it's upto you to decide, how much a search engine that logs information can digg about you. Imagine how business agencies, data mining corps are accessing google by paying them. That's not all, Google can even keep more private information to themselves and force banner ads on users just because they click more. This privacy policy change means, they're saying "we're officially going to screw your data". Forget facebook, google is more dangerous.

Simple answer is to login to YouTube etc. with a different account.

Why use search by logging into any of their service at all? Isn't that what google wants?

[Eóin]

You mean they weren't already doing this?

[Deozaan]

Since when was it a problem for companies who provide you with multiple services to know what services they provide you with and use/consolidate that information in their efforts to provide you service? It's actually quite convenient e.g. for my bank to let me access information about all my accounts at once, including facilitating transfers from one of my accounts to another.

Do you feel the same way about Google providing you with different search results based on what they think you're looking for - or more accurately, what they think you should look at first?

Because that's what they now do.

If I have a problem with the search results I get from Google it isn't hard to use Bing or Scroogle or Yahoo! or DuckDuckGo or a slew of other search engines. In the meantime, I can enjoy the convenience of many consolidated services that integrate information I have willingly given them to make my experience better.

e.g. If I receive an e-mail about an event happening on a certain date at a certain time, then it is convenient when Google offers to add it to my calendar, since I also use Google Calendar.

[Josh]

I am with Deozaan on this one. I created the account, I added the data, I continue to use Google, I inherently agreed to the plethora of privacy policies.

I fail to see the issue here. I know that Google has made various services which I now love and enjoy. Their search is fantastic, the email client, calendar, docs app and various other small tools are great. What do I care if the services I am already using, separately, share data amongst themselves?

[Eóin]

Also one should realise too that you can view the profile Google has built up on you and request that they no longer use targeted ads.

I looked at my profile and found it very benign, basically they'd identified what music I like, that I'm into C++ programming, etc. All very broad stuff. Admittedly you're relying on them being honest in disclosing what they know, but nonetheless I have found my paranoia has subsided of late.

[Cloq]

Simple answer is to login to YouTube etc. with a different account.

That's the plan.

[urlwolf]

This is why I use DuckDuckGo. No tracking. Period.

[Eóin]

Simple answer is to login to YouTube etc. with a different account.

That's the plan.

Why though, all they're doing is aggregating their profile on the types of topics/things you Google with the types of videos you like to watch. Something I'd assumed they always did.

[Cloq]

Simple answer is to login to YouTube etc. with a different account.

That's the plan.

Why though, all they're doing is aggregating their profile on the types of topics/things you Google with the types of videos you like to watch. Something I'd assumed they always did.

Meh, I don't want some software(or person) to profile my likes/dislikes without my consent. I don't want to be inundated with various youtube crap that google "extrapolates" based on my random searches or whatnot.

Now if Google were to give me a commission on my data.. things might be slightly different. j/k

There is a reason why I use ad blockers and session only cookies.

[mahesh2k]

You mean they weren't already doing this?

No. None of our service accounts were connected to g+ before but now they are connected and they're making search a garbage by fetching the data from our contacts and searched terms. Social search is what they're doing since past 6 month, not from the beginning of the search.

What do I care if the services I am already using, separately, share data amongst themselves?

Gmail contacts, Gooogle reader, Youtube likes and search terms data is in use among multiple google services. This change is official as per their new privacy policy. This was not the case before (publicly) but they're enforcing this change from march.

[4wd]

Also one should realise too that you can view the profile Google has built up on you and request that they no longer use targeted ads.

Silly question, but how do you view it ?

Just interested, I doubt I'll have one since I only use GMail via POP3/IMAP, any Google Analytics scripts are blocked and cookies are anonymised.