5 ms·

complaining about google is nothing like the whims of fashion. google is a legitimate threat to privacy and liberty, and that should be laid bare repeatedly so

complaining about google is nothing like the whims of fashion. google is a legitimate threat to privacy and liberty, and that should be laid bare repeatedly so we don't get complacent and forget. facebook as well, to a slightly lesser extent. microsoft is trying to compete on that front (poorly) and should also be called out. it's not an either-or proposition, but an all-of-the-above one.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
threatofrain 7y ago
Maybe people want to get their sense of priorities first.
behnamoh 7y ago
Actually there's been evidence that repeatedly hearing certain types of news makes people less sensitive to them. In other words, if people constantly hear about GOOG or MSFT being privacy concerns in the 21st century, those people will think of it as the new norm. Sad, but true.
- clairity 7y ago
  that's definitely a valid concern, but i'm not sure we've reached that point. the constant pressure is certainly needed to get these companies to innovate away from products based on invasiveness and surveillance, or to have new companies pop up to out-compete them.
rixed 7y ago
You forgot to say why Google would be a bigger threat than Microsoft, which is annoying given the person you are responding to clearly listed the reasons why Microsoft is actually collecting more informations than Google. Also, Microsoft has a much worse historical record than Google regarding protecting their users. For instance, at a time when Microsoft was happyly complying to every rules required to be allowed to do business in China, Google decided to not comply and close its offices in that country, all in the name of privacy. So yes, bashing Google in the comment section of an article about Microsoft Edge misbehavior certainly sounds like the whims of fashion, if not of organised business propaganda. edit: beating Android keyboard to oblivion
- ksk 7y ago
  Microsoft will make tons of money without spying on users and setting up "anonymous" profiles of peoples personal tastes, behavior, buying patterns, and other personal information. Google will make significantly less money if they don't spy on users. Its not about Google, its the domain itself. Advertising is a scummy business. Google brags about their advertising targeting capabilities, which simply cannot exist without spying on users. It beats me why anyone would think an advertising company would be pro-privacy. Their goal is to setup a toll booth on the internet by inserting themselves between the user and the content they want to actually get to. I'm waiting for Google to buy all the display companies and show a perma ad-box on the monitor itself. (haha.. I hope I didn't give t hem any ideas.. maybe I shouldn't even be making the joke.. :P )
  - dylan604 7y ago
    >Microsoft will make tons of money without spying on users, and they will make even more money by spying on users and selling that data. EvilCorp is not known for leaving money on the table. Google chooses to give away their products to lure people into using them. M$ has the luxury of having the users pay money for their products while also giving up the same data.
- sjwright 7y ago
  > You forgot to say why Google would be a bigger threat than Microsoft Microsoft wants you to use their spreadsheet software. Google is a significant gatekeeper to information which influences what we know and the opinions we form. And that information is increasingly first party, e.g. YouTube, the Play Store.
  - dntbnmpls 7y ago
    > Microsoft wants you to use their spreadsheet software. ... and windows OS, visual studio, sql server, azure, linkedin, github, bing, skype, etc which all collects data on you. Also, I love that you dismissed their office suite as just "spreadsheet software". It's only the world's ubiquitous office suite used everywhere in the world.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

threatofrain 7y ago

Maybe people want to get their sense of priorities first.

behnamoh 7y ago

Actually there's been evidence that repeatedly hearing certain types of news makes people less sensitive to them. In other words, if people constantly hear about GOOG or MSFT being privacy concerns in the 21st century, those people will think of it as the new norm. Sad, but true.

clairity 7y ago
that's definitely a valid concern, but i'm not sure we've reached that point. the constant pressure is certainly needed to get these companies to innovate away from products based on invasiveness and surveillance, or to have new companies pop up to out-compete them.

rixed 7y ago

You forgot to say why Google would be a bigger threat than Microsoft, which is annoying given the person you are responding to clearly listed the reasons why Microsoft is actually collecting more informations than Google. Also, Microsoft has a much worse historical record than Google regarding protecting their users. For instance, at a time when Microsoft was happyly complying to every rules required to be allowed to do business in China, Google decided to not comply and close its offices in that country, all in the name of privacy. So yes, bashing Google in the comment section of an article about Microsoft Edge misbehavior certainly sounds like the whims of fashion, if not of organised business propaganda. edit: beating Android keyboard to oblivion

ksk 7y ago
Microsoft will make tons of money without spying on users and setting up "anonymous" profiles of peoples personal tastes, behavior, buying patterns, and other personal information. Google will make significantly less money if they don't spy on users. Its not about Google, its the domain itself. Advertising is a scummy business. Google brags about their advertising targeting capabilities, which simply cannot exist without spying on users. It beats me why anyone would think an advertising company would be pro-privacy. Their goal is to setup a toll booth on the internet by inserting themselves between the user and the content they want to actually get to. I'm waiting for Google to buy all the display companies and show a perma ad-box on the monitor itself. (haha.. I hope I didn't give t hem any ideas.. maybe I shouldn't even be making the joke.. :P )
- dylan604 7y ago
  >Microsoft will make tons of money without spying on users, and they will make even more money by spying on users and selling that data. EvilCorp is not known for leaving money on the table. Google chooses to give away their products to lure people into using them. M$ has the luxury of having the users pay money for their products while also giving up the same data.
sjwright 7y ago
> You forgot to say why Google would be a bigger threat than Microsoft Microsoft wants you to use their spreadsheet software. Google is a significant gatekeeper to information which influences what we know and the opinions we form. And that information is increasingly first party, e.g. YouTube, the Play Store.
- dntbnmpls 7y ago
  > Microsoft wants you to use their spreadsheet software. ... and windows OS, visual studio, sql server, azure, linkedin, github, bing, skype, etc which all collects data on you. Also, I love that you dismissed their office suite as just "spreadsheet software". It's only the world's ubiquitous office suite used everywhere in the world.