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If Schmidt Thinks Privacy Doesn't Matter-He Should Post His Own Browsing History
- aresant 17y agoThis post title says everything that's in the article – save yourself the read. Also – who’s George Schmidt (from article) – does author mean Eric Schmidt?
- ippisl 17y ago"In 2005, he(Eric Schmidt) threw a legendary hissy fit when CNET's Elinor Mills, in an article about privacy, published some details about his residence, his finances, and his politics that she had uncovered through Google searches. Google infamously cut off all contact with CNET for a couple of months. Schmidt didn't seem so casual about the value of privacy when his own was at stake." http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2010/01/other_peoples_p.php http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2010/01/other_peoples_p.ph...
- wmeredith 17y agoWOW this article is a mess in scope, structure and grammar. He should have stopped with the title, it's such a good point; but the following narrative doesn't do it justice.
- jsz0 17y agoThere's a big grey area between both extremes. While I don't want my browsing history to be public I acknowledge the fact it could happen. It's a risk I'm willing to accept. I might be more careful about what I search for knowing the risk exists. It's my choice to continue using Google's services. If I was really concerned about privacy I'd reward the companies who make it a higher priority. It's amazing that even when consumers have choice they so often stick with whatever is popular and well known despite what they think are major problems/flaws. One outraged blog post is nothing compared to deleting your Google account if you feel super strongly about it.
- TinaL 17y agoAlso, did you know that there is some kind of "internal privacy agreement" that prohibits Google employees use of social tools? I know a lot of people working at Google that don't share any news, don't use twitter and even Buzz. They don't share favourites videos or anything.
- jrockway 17y agoI have lots of friends at Google that regularly use Twitter, Google Latitude, etc. If there is a policy against it, they sure don't seem to care much about it.
- nostrademons 17y agoI have never heard of such an agreement. Considering I'm a Google employee and am posting on Hacker News, I rather hope it doesn't exist. The reason many Googlers don't use such social tools is, in my experience: 1.) There're still very strict confidentiality requirements about work-related information. Considering that people tend to make a big deal whenever a Googler leaks anything, and that we come in casual contact with many such secrets during our day, many Googlers just find it safer to say nothing. Witness the media firestorm when someone accidentally leaked the Nexus One in a tweet when it was handed out. 2.) Many of us just don't have time. In past jobs, there've been times when I spent 75% of my time on FaceBook and 25% coding. At Google, I've lately been spending about 120% of my time coding.