4 ms·

This particular incident? No. It's the fact that they're doing this kind of thing at all is the problem. People have been worrying for years about the filter b

by adwf 11y ago

This particular incident? No. It's the fact that they're doing this kind of thing at all is the problem. People have been worrying for years about the filter bubble that Google put you in; could you imagine if they tried to skew the US election? This document provides some evidence that they've certainly been thinking along those lines.

golergka 11y ago
Jared Cohen is a director of Google Ideas, now called Jigsaw under Alphabet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(company) The email is lacking context, but it appears that they gather data from open sources, not from some sinister surveillance program. And they use this data in open partnership with Al Jazeera. And the company itself is not the main "Google" that is tied to search an ads, but was launched, at inception, as "global technology think-tank". So I see no relationship between what's discussed in these emails and hypothetical scenarios you're describing.
- akerro 11y ago
  >Jared Cohen is the President of Jigsaw and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.[3] Previously, he served as a member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and as a advisor to Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton It looks like high tech in US is in relationship with politicians who promote war, warrant-less NSA spying and built torture programs http://www.drop-dropbox.com/ http://www.drop-dropbox.com/
- gbuk2013 11y ago
  Again from Assange's article[1]: --- In fact, Cohen had moved to Google from the US State Department in 2010. He had been a fast-talking “Generation Y” ideas man at State under two US administrations, a courtier from the world of policy think tanks and institutes, poached in his early twenties. He became a senior advisor for Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton. At State, on the Policy Planning Staff, Cohen was soon christened “Condi’s party-starter,” channeling buzzwords from Silicon Valley into US policy circles and producing delightful rhetorical concoctions such as “Public Diplomacy 2.0.” On his Council on Foreign Relations adjunct staff page he listed his expertise as “terrorism; radicalization; impact of connection technologies on 21st century statecraft; Iran.” --- Good or evil is quite subjective, but there is a pretty clear connection to at least one presidential candidate. That article is a seriously interesting (and long) read, assuming that it's all true of course - it is not interesting enough for me to start digging for proofs! ;) [1] https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/ https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/
- cryoshon 11y ago
  Hm, I wonder if Jigsaw is recruiting... looks like quite an interesting job.
clydethefrog 11y ago
could you imagine if they tried to skew the US election Eric Schmidt has founded The Groundwork, to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. http://qz.com/520652/groundwork-eric-schmidt-startup-working-for-hillary-clinton-campaign/ http://qz.com/520652/groundwork-eric-schmidt-startup-working... They are even hiring here. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=loomin-arty https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=loomin-arty
- thedonald2 11y ago
  Why do Eric Schmidt and other CEOs want to take down Donald Trump? Because the Donald really wants to change the flow of trade and how large corporations build and hire. From Oprah show, 25 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI
austerity 11y ago
If by "skew" you mean publish some (true or at least reasonably verified) information that could influence the voters' decision then why the hell not?
- akerro 11y ago
  Or maybe hide some other information about other candidates that don't match their opinions, takes their profits?
- clouddrover 11y ago
  The skewing of opinion can be done by biasing the results of a web search. As discussed on HN before, a search engine has a strong influence over the decision making of its users: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255633
  - austerity 11y ago
    It could and it would be wrong. But it's not at all what this leak is about.
cryoshon 11y ago
>provides some evidence that they've certainly been thinking along those lines. They've been acting along those lines, you mean. That's even scarier. We are in an election year in the USA... and if not the USA, there's always some other election in some other country. If not an election, then an insurrection... Google has no business meddling in the affairs of states.

by adwf 11y ago

golergka 11y ago

Jared Cohen is a director of Google Ideas, now called Jigsaw under Alphabet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_(company) The email is lacking context, but it appears that they gather data from open sources, not from some sinister surveillance program. And they use this data in open partnership with Al Jazeera. And the company itself is not the main "Google" that is tied to search an ads, but was launched, at inception, as "global technology think-tank". So I see no relationship between what's discussed in these emails and hypothetical scenarios you're describing.

akerro 11y ago
>Jared Cohen is the President of Jigsaw and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.[3] Previously, he served as a member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff and as a advisor to Condoleezza Rice and later Hillary Clinton It looks like high tech in US is in relationship with politicians who promote war, warrant-less NSA spying and built torture programs http://www.drop-dropbox.com/ http://www.drop-dropbox.com/
gbuk2013 11y ago
Again from Assange's article[1]: --- In fact, Cohen had moved to Google from the US State Department in 2010. He had been a fast-talking “Generation Y” ideas man at State under two US administrations, a courtier from the world of policy think tanks and institutes, poached in his early twenties. He became a senior advisor for Secretaries of State Rice and Clinton. At State, on the Policy Planning Staff, Cohen was soon christened “Condi’s party-starter,” channeling buzzwords from Silicon Valley into US policy circles and producing delightful rhetorical concoctions such as “Public Diplomacy 2.0.” On his Council on Foreign Relations adjunct staff page he listed his expertise as “terrorism; radicalization; impact of connection technologies on 21st century statecraft; Iran.” --- Good or evil is quite subjective, but there is a pretty clear connection to at least one presidential candidate. That article is a seriously interesting (and long) read, assuming that it's all true of course - it is not interesting enough for me to start digging for proofs! ;) [1] https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/ https://wikileaks.org/google-is-not-what-it-seems/
cryoshon 11y ago
Hm, I wonder if Jigsaw is recruiting... looks like quite an interesting job.

clydethefrog 11y ago

could you imagine if they tried to skew the US election Eric Schmidt has founded The Groundwork, to ensure that Clinton has the engineering talent needed to win the election. http://qz.com/520652/groundwork-eric-schmidt-startup-working-for-hillary-clinton-campaign/ http://qz.com/520652/groundwork-eric-schmidt-startup-working... They are even hiring here. https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=loomin-arty https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=loomin-arty

thedonald2 11y ago
Why do Eric Schmidt and other CEOs want to take down Donald Trump? Because the Donald really wants to change the flow of trade and how large corporations build and hire. From Oprah show, 25 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEPs17_AkTI

austerity 11y ago

If by "skew" you mean publish some (true or at least reasonably verified) information that could influence the voters' decision then why the hell not?

akerro 11y ago
Or maybe hide some other information about other candidates that don't match their opinions, takes their profits?
clouddrover 11y ago
The skewing of opinion can be done by biasing the results of a web search. As discussed on HN before, a search engine has a strong influence over the decision making of its users: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255633 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11255633
- austerity 11y ago
  It could and it would be wrong. But it's not at all what this leak is about.

cryoshon 11y ago

>provides some evidence that they've certainly been thinking along those lines. They've been acting along those lines, you mean. That's even scarier. We are in an election year in the USA... and if not the USA, there's always some other election in some other country. If not an election, then an insurrection... Google has no business meddling in the affairs of states.