4 ms·

This just proves how little understanding and tech education most users have (still doesn't stop them from having strong opinions on this though). Android data

This just proves how little understanding and tech education most users have (still doesn't stop them from having strong opinions on this though). Android data collection which has been happening for close to a decade is orders of magnitude more intrusive than what Microsoft does with basic telemetry. Yet most people see MS as bad and embrace Google for being "ethical". A classic case of "guess what".

nojvek 8y ago
I don’t think people are seeing Google as “not evil”. Google most probably has a much larger reserve of everyone’s dirty laundry. Most android users just don’t realize how invasive the entire OS is and there is little they can do about it. It sucks thah Apple is the only tech company that gives a shit about privacy seriously. We definitely need more pro-privacy choice.
- fencepost 8y ago
  Google most probably has a much larger reserve of everyone’s dirty laundry. Like a record of every website you've gone to that uses JS served fast and free from Google, fonts served fast and free from Google, on-site search by Google (complete with a logo most likely served direct from Google), etc. And that ignores the most obvious: Google Analytics, where in addition to telling webmasters # of distinct visitors to the site, for each of those visitors they can track "Visited site X" for their own internal use.
HillaryBriss 8y ago
> most people see MS as bad and embrace Google for being "ethical". IDK if it's just me, but I've seen an above-average number of news stories in the last year about how Google is not a consumer-friendly, trustworthy company now. The general public is, I guess, becoming more and more aware of this perspective. We've certainly heard a lot about Facebook's privacy breaches and other problems. As a tech company, Google's reputation is probably hurt by that too. It seems to me that Google has probably entered a new public relations era. And it's pretty hard to go back to the old days where consumers believed in "Don't Be Evil."
jchw 8y ago
Microsoft added a bunch of hooks to get your location and track offline searches without adding almost any usefulness. Privacy advocates definitely hate Google's location tracking, but Google made it into a feature with the location timeline. Does Microsoft even let me see what searches or locations I've shared with them?
- reaperducer 8y ago
  Google made it into a feature with the location timeline. Does Microsoft even let me see what searches or locations I've shared with them? The point of the article is that Google is storing your location outside of the Location Timeline, and labeling it in ways that don't plainly indicate that's what's going on.
- iokanuon 8y ago
  Additionally, it has pretty much been a feature before, because tracking was used to implement the "live traffic" feature in Maps and create their WiFi AP to physical location database.
- golf1052 8y ago
  Yeah, Microsoft created a dashboard last year that let's you view all the privacy info they have on you https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/10/microsoft-privacy-dashboard/ https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/10/microsoft-privacy-dashbo...
  - jchw 8y ago
    Oh, that's pretty cool. I want to try this when I get home. I think it would help me sleep easier with my Windows installs, though I don't know if any of them are logged into Microsoft accounts anymore.
jimmy1 8y ago
The flip side, and I bet more people see it this way than you think: I see the value and fruits of the labor for the data collection Google does on me: Unlimited storage emails and photos, the absolute best mapping application on the market completely free, the best search engine on the market completely free, most of their developer APIs like google reverse geocoding completely free for modest traffic, realtime traffic updates completely free, office products completely free, etc. What did Microsoft give me? Locked down ecosystem, a subpar OS, expensive office products, and a paid-for vendor specific development ecosystem that is frequently becoming just a copier of the emergent industry trends, and a feigned attempt to embrace open source (capture market share) with cringeworthy bumperstickers displaying "Microsoft Hearts Open Source"

nojvek 8y ago

I don’t think people are seeing Google as “not evil”. Google most probably has a much larger reserve of everyone’s dirty laundry. Most android users just don’t realize how invasive the entire OS is and there is little they can do about it. It sucks thah Apple is the only tech company that gives a shit about privacy seriously. We definitely need more pro-privacy choice.

fencepost 8y ago
Google most probably has a much larger reserve of everyone’s dirty laundry. Like a record of every website you've gone to that uses JS served fast and free from Google, fonts served fast and free from Google, on-site search by Google (complete with a logo most likely served direct from Google), etc. And that ignores the most obvious: Google Analytics, where in addition to telling webmasters # of distinct visitors to the site, for each of those visitors they can track "Visited site X" for their own internal use.

HillaryBriss 8y ago

> most people see MS as bad and embrace Google for being "ethical". IDK if it's just me, but I've seen an above-average number of news stories in the last year about how Google is not a consumer-friendly, trustworthy company now. The general public is, I guess, becoming more and more aware of this perspective. We've certainly heard a lot about Facebook's privacy breaches and other problems. As a tech company, Google's reputation is probably hurt by that too. It seems to me that Google has probably entered a new public relations era. And it's pretty hard to go back to the old days where consumers believed in "Don't Be Evil."

jchw 8y ago

Microsoft added a bunch of hooks to get your location and track offline searches without adding almost any usefulness. Privacy advocates definitely hate Google's location tracking, but Google made it into a feature with the location timeline. Does Microsoft even let me see what searches or locations I've shared with them?

reaperducer 8y ago
Google made it into a feature with the location timeline. Does Microsoft even let me see what searches or locations I've shared with them? The point of the article is that Google is storing your location outside of the Location Timeline, and labeling it in ways that don't plainly indicate that's what's going on.
iokanuon 8y ago
Additionally, it has pretty much been a feature before, because tracking was used to implement the "live traffic" feature in Maps and create their WiFi AP to physical location database.
golf1052 8y ago
Yeah, Microsoft created a dashboard last year that let's you view all the privacy info they have on you https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/10/microsoft-privacy-dashboard/ https://www.engadget.com/2017/01/10/microsoft-privacy-dashbo...
- jchw 8y ago
  Oh, that's pretty cool. I want to try this when I get home. I think it would help me sleep easier with my Windows installs, though I don't know if any of them are logged into Microsoft accounts anymore.

jimmy1 8y ago

The flip side, and I bet more people see it this way than you think: I see the value and fruits of the labor for the data collection Google does on me: Unlimited storage emails and photos, the absolute best mapping application on the market completely free, the best search engine on the market completely free, most of their developer APIs like google reverse geocoding completely free for modest traffic, realtime traffic updates completely free, office products completely free, etc. What did Microsoft give me? Locked down ecosystem, a subpar OS, expensive office products, and a paid-for vendor specific development ecosystem that is frequently becoming just a copier of the emergent industry trends, and a feigned attempt to embrace open source (capture market share) with cringeworthy bumperstickers displaying "Microsoft Hearts Open Source"