google skeptic

There’s an outside chance that this is actually a subtle parody of the stereotypical Canadian mildness, but I don’t think so:

No one can accuse Google of being secretive, says Rob Clark, senior analyst with Social Media Group, a southern Ontario company that helps businesses navigate the web.

Wanna bet?  Have you ever actually dealt with Google?  Even on something small-fry, like Adwords or Adsense?  “Opaque” doesn’t begin to capture their attitude.

“I don’t know if people do trust the Google giant,” he says. “I think people are somewhat uneasy about having a giant in their midst, but the giant keeps doing things that make their lives easier and every time the giant moves it explains where it’s moving and why. The giant is always holding its hands out and showing that it has no malicious intent.”

Aww, that’s sweet.  The wise gentle giant, only trying to help.  Incidentally, this is what you get when your culture becomes hopelessly infantilized and historically illiterate:  people — paid technical analysts, in fact — who filter their view of reality though cartoon analogies.

Clark says Chrome is going to be open source, which means anyone can look at the code running the program to see exactly what it is doing and why.

“I don’t have to worry about secretive happenings occurring under the hood as I’ll know that most of the world’s developers will have taken a good look and pored over each and every line of code,” he says. “If there is something that is malicious, ill-conceived or not right about the OS, you can bet the news of that would be on a dozen blogs faster than either of us could blink.”

Actually, no.  Yes, it is being built on Linux, but there will be layers of proprietary Google code on top.  “Proprietary” means it’s not open source, and no, kiddies, you will not be able to “pore over each and every line of code.”   And that, by the way, is on purpose.

To fend off the perception Google is collecting data with ill intent, the company needs to be upfront about what kind of information it’s gathering and how it’s being used, says Clark, adding he’s comfortable with using Google.

“I know that what’s happening on Google’s end is all being done by a machine. There’s no person holding a file with my name on it and deciding to serve up a particular AdSense ad. There isn’t a Google employee sitting looking at my web history and saying ‘oh, ho — so that’s his favourite blogger.’ It’s just machines. It’s all just ones and zeros flying around hard drives and motherboards in a server farm someplace,” he says.

So… stealing your personal data, bundling it and selling it to advertisers, etc., is OK as long as all that is done by a machine?  As long as there’s no human peeking at your individual data?  As long as it’s all just “ones and zeros flying around”?  WTF?   So it’s OK if I tap your phone as long as I do it with a digital recorder?

read the rest via Friendly giant? Some fear a growing Google.

When it came time for former Nazi rocket scientist (and father of the US space program) Werner von Braun to write his autobiography, he titled it, with characteristic hubris, “I Aim for the Stars,” whereupon humorist Mort Saul suggested the subtitle “But Sometimes I Hit London.”  Google is shooting for the moon with their Chrome OS.  But look out below:

What will Google’s Chrome OS watch you do?

Google has a long history of tracking user activity, and the introduction of its Chrome operating system later this year is sure to follow suit. While we know that it’s being built off of Linux, one big thing we don’t know is how its terms of service will differ from those found in other Google products, and what kinds of user data it will be collecting. Based on the company’s track record of watching and monetizing user data, it could be anything from which applications you’re using, to all the information that’s coming in and out of your computer.

To provide a better picture on what to expect, let’s take a look at some of the ways Google is currently monitoring user activity in a handful of its products and how that may trickle down into the OS:

Google personalized Web search–Google’s bread and butter business is its search engine, and its personalized search is a way to put a face on the data. When you’re signed in with your Google account you can opt in to having your Web history tracked; Google archives all of the sites you’ve clicked on from search results, as well as what time of day you clicked on them.

For those who are not signed in, the company uses identifiers like cookies and IP addresses. But when you’re signed in it can actually aggregate that data no matter what computer you’re on. With a system-level log-in, it could theoretically do this no matter what browser you’re using, giving Google a far richer set of data.

Chrome browser–When Chrome was first released, Google got in some hot water over its terms of service, which stated that Google had the rights to license any content that went through the browser. It quickly backtracked on the claim, citing that the terms heavily borrowed from other Google products and that it didn’t make sense for Chrome. This would have given Google licensing control over things like user photos, videos, and words.

The one area where Google’s Chrome can still access some of that information is with its reports system. This is an opt-in program for users to provide Google with crash reports and detailed information about what features they’re using. Google has said this does not include any information from form fields, or from users’ Google accounts. However, it does track what sites and search terms you’ve entered into the address bar.

read the rest via What will Google’s Chrome OS watch you do? | Webware – CNET.

It goes on, of course, and on and on, because every application Google has created is designed to collect personal data from the people who use it.  Google’s motto really ought to be If it doesn’t snoop, it doesn’t compute.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, Google’s gotta hoover up your data ’til the day you die.  It’s who they are, not just what they do.

Given that, does anyone really believe that Google won’t rig its OS to watch every single thing you do online or off with “your” computer and report back to the Fortress of Coolitude?  Gimme a break.  Yes, it’s being built on open-source Linux, but the layer on top will be, as it is in the Chrome browser, proprietary Google code.  Good luck finding out what it’s saying about you.