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I wonder if they are going to plan to mine people's search patterns? I don't know about you, but I've never lied to Google about my intentions. When I was feeli

I wonder if they are going to plan to mine people's search patterns? I don't know about you, but I've never lied to Google about my intentions. When I was feeling very depressed, I'd often search for sad things, or even "ways to kill myself". I imagine a lot of other people do so as well, and aren't even aware their search history is monitored by Google -- and if they are, they think it can be cleared by deleting their Internet history in their browser. There is again a fine line between privacy and what will help the individual and society at large. The most pressing questions will not be what new analytical methods we can create to better identify mental illness from Google's data. I've seen the quality of the mental health system from a close friend's perspective (in the US at least) and all I can say is you don't want to get mixed up with it; it often has the same outcome and social stigma as a criminal record.

plg 11y ago
as a user of google search can't you switch this off? maybe you have to be signed into a google account to have the ability to switch it off? maybe they would ignore this switch for the purposes of determining if you are suicidal (or homicidal)?
cafebeen 11y ago
It's really a challenge to use search in this way. The searcher could be depressed, or be a worried friend of some who's depressed, or be a writer looking for story ideas, or be a family member of the last person who used the browser, etc.
- Bjartr 11y ago
  Something like the individualized advertising model Google has for each person could probably be used in tandem to segment that more reliably.
itsoverjohnny 11y ago
>>> When I was feeling very depressed, I'd often search for sad things, or even "ways to kill myself" That may explain those "Hotels near Golden Gate Bridge starting at $40 a night" ads. In all seriousness, I do not want Google to help me at all, just to leave my privacy alone and show the most relevant results when asked. I'd rather scroll a bit longer than have Google know everything about me

plg 11y ago

as a user of google search can't you switch this off? maybe you have to be signed into a google account to have the ability to switch it off? maybe they would ignore this switch for the purposes of determining if you are suicidal (or homicidal)?

cafebeen 11y ago

It's really a challenge to use search in this way. The searcher could be depressed, or be a worried friend of some who's depressed, or be a writer looking for story ideas, or be a family member of the last person who used the browser, etc.

Bjartr 11y ago
Something like the individualized advertising model Google has for each person could probably be used in tandem to segment that more reliably.

itsoverjohnny 11y ago

>>> When I was feeling very depressed, I'd often search for sad things, or even "ways to kill myself" That may explain those "Hotels near Golden Gate Bridge starting at $40 a night" ads. In all seriousness, I do not want Google to help me at all, just to leave my privacy alone and show the most relevant results when asked. I'd rather scroll a bit longer than have Google know everything about me