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The thing that scares me the most about all the data I give to Google is not that I am putting lots of trust in present-Google. It's that I am also putting lots

The thing that scares me the most about all the data I give to Google is not that I am putting lots of trust in present-Google. It's that I am also putting lots of trust in FUTURE-Google. So far, history has shown that even the most dominant tech companies can see their power wane. Imagine you are a VP at Google, and after a year of revenue shrinkage you are being pressured to get "creative" about new sources of revenue... You have everyone's ENTIRE history of data. At one point the "need for revenue" will outweigh the "desire to respect people's privacy."

Veratyr 9y ago
That "desire to respect people's privacy" isn't just some form of benevolent corporate altruism though, it's also a legal agreement between Google and its users and something that's closely watched by regulators around the world. It's hard to see because in America there are basically no laws regarding privacy but around Europe in particular, regulators have power and use it. See the "right to be forgotten" laws which were forced on Google as an example. That's not to say that Google can't do things with your data later but it will need your consent and regulators will be paying close attention.
- andrenotgiant 9y ago
  That's a good point, I have zero understanding of how privacy laws and Google's own TOS limit what they can do with old data. To clarify, though, I'm not talking about Google straight-up selling my data, I'm talking about all the creepy in-between things like: - parsing out the fees I pay from my financial transaction emails and selling me in an "audience" to competing banks. - Parsing my e-commerce Return confirmations and selling it as an "ecommerce credit score" to ecommerce sites. - Monitoring brand mentions on Google Home and selling me in an audience to advertisers. - Selling my contact information to sites I thought I was just browsing "anonymously"
disconnected 9y ago
Lots of doomsday scenarios can happen. Consider also that, as dominant companies see their revenue slip, they start cutting corners and get complacent with security. Yahoo is the prime example, I think. It was one of the giants of the early web. Then they started losing relevance, hit rock bottom, started cutting corners and as a result 500+ million users had their account details leaked by hackers. Another doomsday scenario is Google being bought by or merged with a competitor that doesn't give a shit about your privacy or your data. So this entity gobbles up Google's data, sets fire to their privacy agreement (which they will pretend they no longer have to honour because they aren't Google) then pimps you to the highest bidder. Bottom line is, we're screwed.

Veratyr 9y ago

That "desire to respect people's privacy" isn't just some form of benevolent corporate altruism though, it's also a legal agreement between Google and its users and something that's closely watched by regulators around the world. It's hard to see because in America there are basically no laws regarding privacy but around Europe in particular, regulators have power and use it. See the "right to be forgotten" laws which were forced on Google as an example. That's not to say that Google can't do things with your data later but it will need your consent and regulators will be paying close attention.

andrenotgiant 9y ago
That's a good point, I have zero understanding of how privacy laws and Google's own TOS limit what they can do with old data. To clarify, though, I'm not talking about Google straight-up selling my data, I'm talking about all the creepy in-between things like: - parsing out the fees I pay from my financial transaction emails and selling me in an "audience" to competing banks. - Parsing my e-commerce Return confirmations and selling it as an "ecommerce credit score" to ecommerce sites. - Monitoring brand mentions on Google Home and selling me in an audience to advertisers. - Selling my contact information to sites I thought I was just browsing "anonymously"

disconnected 9y ago

Lots of doomsday scenarios can happen. Consider also that, as dominant companies see their revenue slip, they start cutting corners and get complacent with security. Yahoo is the prime example, I think. It was one of the giants of the early web. Then they started losing relevance, hit rock bottom, started cutting corners and as a result 500+ million users had their account details leaked by hackers. Another doomsday scenario is Google being bought by or merged with a competitor that doesn't give a shit about your privacy or your data. So this entity gobbles up Google's data, sets fire to their privacy agreement (which they will pretend they no longer have to honour because they aren't Google) then pimps you to the highest bidder. Bottom line is, we're screwed.