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I look at it this way: What is your threat model? What do you stand to lose if: * Google shuts down tomorrow? * Google turns into a malicious conspirator tom

I look at it this way: What is your threat model? What do you stand to lose if: * Google shuts down tomorrow? * Google turns into a malicious conspirator tomorrow? * Google's databases are compromised by a separate malicious party tomorrow? Each of these can have different outcomes for your data. Do you wish to mitigate, avoid, or accept that risk? Likewise, what do you stand to gain from using Google services? AKA, do you get substance out of their services in exchange for the information you're giving them? Everyone can have different answers to these questions. If you choose not to use Google services, more power to you. I simply encourage everyone to think about their threat model critically, and make an educated decision - rather than hopping on a bandwagon.

ben_jones 7y ago
I think for me personally its: Over the next 20-30 years personal freedoms and economic opportunities in the United States gradually erode, and large corporations seeking to continue/increase profit are entirely complicit in legally feeding their data into a surveillance state. The goal of the model would be to decrease how fucked I am from this eventuality.
britch 7y ago
I understand your point that is a trade-off. I think a lot of my issue with google is that the trade off is not presented in a clear way. You make it sound like a clear and simple transaction: I give Google my location, they give me relevant information based on that information. They add that location data to their model. In my experience it is not presented as a transaction. I have no idea what information Google is taking/inferring about me. Are they using my phone microphone to listen in on me? I don't think so. As far as I know there's nothing stopping them from doing that tomorrow without telling me. How would they use that data? How much are they keeping on file? There's no way for me to know and they don't have to tell me. I found out a year ago that Google maps was tracking my every movement. I would not have consented to that, but it was grouped in with a bunch of other "app history" permissions that I agreed to a decade ago. So it's true. I do stand to gain from using Google's services. What's hard to judge is the costs. I can't make an educated decision without knowing the costs.

ben_jones 7y ago

I think for me personally its: Over the next 20-30 years personal freedoms and economic opportunities in the United States gradually erode, and large corporations seeking to continue/increase profit are entirely complicit in legally feeding their data into a surveillance state. The goal of the model would be to decrease how fucked I am from this eventuality.

britch 7y ago

I understand your point that is a trade-off. I think a lot of my issue with google is that the trade off is not presented in a clear way. You make it sound like a clear and simple transaction: I give Google my location, they give me relevant information based on that information. They add that location data to their model. In my experience it is not presented as a transaction. I have no idea what information Google is taking/inferring about me. Are they using my phone microphone to listen in on me? I don't think so. As far as I know there's nothing stopping them from doing that tomorrow without telling me. How would they use that data? How much are they keeping on file? There's no way for me to know and they don't have to tell me. I found out a year ago that Google maps was tracking my every movement. I would not have consented to that, but it was grouped in with a bunch of other "app history" permissions that I agreed to a decade ago. So it's true. I do stand to gain from using Google's services. What's hard to judge is the costs. I can't make an educated decision without knowing the costs.