5 ms·

Yeah, I was going to say... Of course Google made this demand. It's a no-brainer. Not only does it help ensure their competitors aren't profiting from the same

by warent 8y ago

Yeah, I was going to say... Of course Google made this demand. It's a no-brainer. Not only does it help ensure their competitors aren't profiting from the same data that Google does, but also its a beautiful PR stunt. Not to say that they shouldn't be making this demand, but we should all keep in mind that they're not doing this out of the kindness of their hearts or because it's the ethical thing to do.

mtgx 8y ago
It's actually not so different from seeing Verizon lately "fight for user privacy" by lobbying for bills that would regulate "edge providers"-only, as opposed to lobbying for more general GDPR-style privacy bills that would also affect them. They actually did the opposite previously and fought to get the new FTC chairman to kill the broadband privacy rules "so that they can be on equal footing with Google/Facebook" (right before asking for regulation against Google/Facebook later on). They're all just trying to take their competitors down a few notches. You can't take any company that wants to profit from advertising and data sharing/selling seriously in regards to "fighting for privacy". Google was recently found to be illegally tracking Android users' location, once by "mistake" and the second time they were ignoring their location tracking opt-outs. I don't even remember their reasoning for the second one - but who cares, it was a lie anyway.
rhacker 8y ago
I much much much rather have the companies with a public image to uphold be the keepers of this data. There are soooo many scuzzy people out there. Beyond that, the US is highly due for both public records laws that make sense in the internet age, as well as digital data as a product, needs to have similar laws put in place. To be honest, there really shouldn't be websites out there that know you and your family members and your phone numbers. This stuff should be under lock and key and require special PI licences to get access.
Johnny555 8y ago
also its a beautiful PR stunt. It's only a PR stunt if they publicized it -- it's not a stunt if they did it without making it public. It's a PR win for sure, but that doesn't make it a PR stunt.
- warent 8y ago
  That's fair, I couldn't think of the term "PR Win" and chose the next closest thing to communicate what I wanted, but knew it was slightly off. Thanks for the correction

by warent 8y ago

mtgx 8y ago

It's actually not so different from seeing Verizon lately "fight for user privacy" by lobbying for bills that would regulate "edge providers"-only, as opposed to lobbying for more general GDPR-style privacy bills that would also affect them. They actually did the opposite previously and fought to get the new FTC chairman to kill the broadband privacy rules "so that they can be on equal footing with Google/Facebook" (right before asking for regulation against Google/Facebook later on). They're all just trying to take their competitors down a few notches. You can't take any company that wants to profit from advertising and data sharing/selling seriously in regards to "fighting for privacy". Google was recently found to be illegally tracking Android users' location, once by "mistake" and the second time they were ignoring their location tracking opt-outs. I don't even remember their reasoning for the second one - but who cares, it was a lie anyway.

rhacker 8y ago

I much much much rather have the companies with a public image to uphold be the keepers of this data. There are soooo many scuzzy people out there. Beyond that, the US is highly due for both public records laws that make sense in the internet age, as well as digital data as a product, needs to have similar laws put in place. To be honest, there really shouldn't be websites out there that know you and your family members and your phone numbers. This stuff should be under lock and key and require special PI licences to get access.

Johnny555 8y ago

also its a beautiful PR stunt. It's only a PR stunt if they publicized it -- it's not a stunt if they did it without making it public. It's a PR win for sure, but that doesn't make it a PR stunt.

warent 8y ago
That's fair, I couldn't think of the term "PR Win" and chose the next closest thing to communicate what I wanted, but knew it was slightly off. Thanks for the correction