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1. The title mentions only Google. 2. The article then talks about both Facebook and Google and links to some of Facebook's most egregious incidents like data

1. The title mentions only Google. 2. The article then talks about both Facebook and Google and links to some of Facebook's most egregious incidents like data sharing, Cambridge Analytica, WhatsApp. 3. The article then proceeds to tell you how to leave Google. It just comes across in a bad way. Don't mix up the two companies - they aren't equivalent. And if you want to give advice on leaving Google, do that instead of this switcharoo that uses Facebook's scandals as a reason to leave Google.

mastazi 6y ago
I agree, Google is bad enough on its own, no need to compare. It gets less negative press compared to Facebook, probably because they managed their public relations better, but if you really look, you will find plenty of reasons not to share all your data with them. (Having said that, Facebook is of course just as bad as Google if not worse)
- superbcarrot 6y ago
  > probably because they managed their public relations better It's not only PR. Google haven't violated their users' privacy to the extent Facebook have, it's not even close.
  - m_a_g 6y ago
    Can you elaborate on how you made that conclusion?
    - judge2020 6y ago
      At least on a standpoint of what ‘partners’ or ‘developers’ can access, Google hasn’t had a Cambridge Analytica scenario play out (that we know of) so all of the data they have gained via web tracking for the purpose of ads is securely stored in a Google silo.
      - berlam 6y ago
        I agree, but would like to remind you of the Google+ data scandal in 2018, which did not increase my confidence in Google's security measures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Google_data_breach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Google_data_breach
        LadyNike 6y ago
        > Within November 2018, another data breach was found within a Google+ API software update. The bug was fixed within a week and there was no evidence that any third party developer compromised the system. Please explain how this is anywhere near the level of FB & CA?
        berlam 6y ago
        > However, approximately 52.5 million non-public profile fields were exposed to alternative apps that requested access to individuals Google+ ID, and created access to other profiles that had shared information with each other. It's not on the same level as CA but should remind you that even a corporation like Google can have such data breaches, regardless of whether they were gaps or poor design. The investigations were initiated only after the CA scandal. Would the gap have been discovered in time without CA? Who knows. Even if it is assumed that this gap was not exploited, 52 million affected users is not a small number.
        nemothekid 6y ago
        I don't think it's comparable at all - the CA scandal wasn't something CA got access to via a bug. What CA had been doing, plenty of other companies had already been doing on Facebook's platform to maximize ad spend. CA was just first to apply it to agitprop. So yes, while Google did go back and make sure their APIs were cleaned up they never unofficially offered the functionality in the first place.
    - addicted 6y ago
      A great heuristic to show this is the article. It's titled how to leave Google. It concludes with how to leave Google. But the vast majority of evidence it uses to justify leaving Google are Facebook privacy examples. I suspect the author, who is clearly no Google fan, put some effort into looking at Google's privacy violations, but even then had to resort to pointing to FB's instead to beef up their article. It's certainly possible that Google has hidden it better, but there is no evidence to suggest that FB does not have the same, or better talent, for that matter, to do the same.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - tremon 6y ago
    I'll grant you that Google haven't been caught violating their users' privacy to the same extent, but the rest of your statement is hollow conjecture.
  - nathias 6y ago
    Facebook isn't reading my email ...
    - numlock86 6y ago
      Right, they don't. They just read your chats, your contact lists, get other peoples contact information without any consent or relation to Facebook at all and some other minor things like using your photos for ads of any kind or selling data to e.g. profiling companies.
      - nathias 6y ago
        I can avoid facebook completely, I can't avoid google.
        numlock86 6y ago
        Care to elaborate? My previous post had an argument about how you can't avoid Facebook, as someone who uses Facebook probably already shared your contact information from their phone with them without you knowing anything about it.
        sct202 6y ago
        Not to mention all the 3rd parties that put facebook trackers on their websites.
        freeflight 6y ago
        Anybody using an android device will help Google aggregate data about you because as soon as your details are added to the contacts app those will be cross-referenced with other data Google has about you. That’s exactly how Google ended up in possession on my mobile phone number in relation to my mail address: A friend added the same e-email address I use for YouTube to my android contact, which also included my phone number. His android contacts app then proceeded to use my YouTube profile picture for my contact with my phone number.
wepple 6y ago
The article seems to use examples of undeniably bad things Facebook has done to extrapolate to google, without providing any concrete examples. Stating that FB/G use your data to provide targeted ads isn’t an inherently bad thing: it’s part of the arithmetic of getting incredibly useful tools for free. I’d argue the key piece is what types of ads, and the methods behind delivery are crucial. That isn’t mentioned at all.

mastazi 6y ago

I agree, Google is bad enough on its own, no need to compare. It gets less negative press compared to Facebook, probably because they managed their public relations better, but if you really look, you will find plenty of reasons not to share all your data with them. (Having said that, Facebook is of course just as bad as Google if not worse)

superbcarrot 6y ago
> probably because they managed their public relations better It's not only PR. Google haven't violated their users' privacy to the extent Facebook have, it's not even close.
- m_a_g 6y ago
  Can you elaborate on how you made that conclusion?
  - judge2020 6y ago
    At least on a standpoint of what ‘partners’ or ‘developers’ can access, Google hasn’t had a Cambridge Analytica scenario play out (that we know of) so all of the data they have gained via web tracking for the purpose of ads is securely stored in a Google silo.
    - berlam 6y ago
      I agree, but would like to remind you of the Google+ data scandal in 2018, which did not increase my confidence in Google's security measures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Google_data_breach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Google_data_breach
      - LadyNike 6y ago
        > Within November 2018, another data breach was found within a Google+ API software update. The bug was fixed within a week and there was no evidence that any third party developer compromised the system. Please explain how this is anywhere near the level of FB & CA?
        berlam 6y ago
        > However, approximately 52.5 million non-public profile fields were exposed to alternative apps that requested access to individuals Google+ ID, and created access to other profiles that had shared information with each other. It's not on the same level as CA but should remind you that even a corporation like Google can have such data breaches, regardless of whether they were gaps or poor design. The investigations were initiated only after the CA scandal. Would the gap have been discovered in time without CA? Who knows. Even if it is assumed that this gap was not exploited, 52 million affected users is not a small number.
        nemothekid 6y ago
        I don't think it's comparable at all - the CA scandal wasn't something CA got access to via a bug. What CA had been doing, plenty of other companies had already been doing on Facebook's platform to maximize ad spend. CA was just first to apply it to agitprop. So yes, while Google did go back and make sure their APIs were cleaned up they never unofficially offered the functionality in the first place.
  - addicted 6y ago
    A great heuristic to show this is the article. It's titled how to leave Google. It concludes with how to leave Google. But the vast majority of evidence it uses to justify leaving Google are Facebook privacy examples. I suspect the author, who is clearly no Google fan, put some effort into looking at Google's privacy violations, but even then had to resort to pointing to FB's instead to beef up their article. It's certainly possible that Google has hidden it better, but there is no evidence to suggest that FB does not have the same, or better talent, for that matter, to do the same.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- tremon 6y ago
  I'll grant you that Google haven't been caught violating their users' privacy to the same extent, but the rest of your statement is hollow conjecture.
- nathias 6y ago
  Facebook isn't reading my email ...
  - numlock86 6y ago
    Right, they don't. They just read your chats, your contact lists, get other peoples contact information without any consent or relation to Facebook at all and some other minor things like using your photos for ads of any kind or selling data to e.g. profiling companies.
    - nathias 6y ago
      I can avoid facebook completely, I can't avoid google.
      - numlock86 6y ago
        Care to elaborate? My previous post had an argument about how you can't avoid Facebook, as someone who uses Facebook probably already shared your contact information from their phone with them without you knowing anything about it.
        sct202 6y ago
        Not to mention all the 3rd parties that put facebook trackers on their websites.
        freeflight 6y ago
        Anybody using an android device will help Google aggregate data about you because as soon as your details are added to the contacts app those will be cross-referenced with other data Google has about you. That’s exactly how Google ended up in possession on my mobile phone number in relation to my mail address: A friend added the same e-email address I use for YouTube to my android contact, which also included my phone number. His android contacts app then proceeded to use my YouTube profile picture for my contact with my phone number.

wepple 6y ago

The article seems to use examples of undeniably bad things Facebook has done to extrapolate to google, without providing any concrete examples. Stating that FB/G use your data to provide targeted ads isn’t an inherently bad thing: it’s part of the arithmetic of getting incredibly useful tools for free. I’d argue the key piece is what types of ads, and the methods behind delivery are crucial. That isn’t mentioned at all.