> The paperwork is a strong incentive to avoid keeping data you don't need. The paperwork is a modest incentive to avoid keeping data Google doesn't need. The

> The paperwork is a strong incentive to avoid keeping data you don't need. The paperwork is a modest incentive to avoid keeping data Google doesn't need. The problem is that what people need is not necessarily the same as what Google's surveillance and manipulation profit machine needs. I don't need Google to keep a hyper-detailed record of every site I visit, but Google's business model means that they "need" to do it. So they do. >> And Google's employees have a large incentive to not see any issues with collecting all the personal information that exists. You see, Googlers are incentivized not to see the ethical catastrophe that is collecting the data they "need" to collect in order to implement and enhance Google's surveillance and manipulation profit machine. Sure, if some data are irrelevant to the surveillance and manipulation profit machine, there is a modest incentive not to collect those data. The problem is that Google "needs" a great deal of highly personal, sensitive data whose aggregation poses societal risks that can hardly be overstated. But, since Google--and therefore, Googlers' salaries, bonuses, and RSU gains--"needs" those data, Googlers are incentivized to rationalize its collection, aggregation, and exploitation.