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The real reason, which I don't hear voiced often, is because you're not getting enough value for your data. Your data has value to advertisers, but to many othe
by javajosh 3y ago
The real reason, which I don't hear voiced often, is because you're not getting enough value for your data. Your data has value to advertisers, but to many other entities, private and public. Your data has value, and Google has high profit margins on that value. To be able to extract more value from your own data for yourself, you need to be able to deny Google access to it, and then sell it back to them. If enough people do this, it becomes something like a collective bargaining tool, and then some of Google's enormous societal windfall actually gets returned...to society.
- skybrian 3y agoMaybe, but this is an example of a theoretical / ideological argument. If we needed more money, it seems like there are easier ways to get it than trying to get a better bargain for information about us? We could be more careful about spending. I could shop around more. There are games with credit card rewards that I don't really play. I could invest better.
- javajosh 3y agoI think you're ignoring an important cost/benefit analysis. The upside may be small, on the order of 10's of dollars per month. But the downside is very large - scammers or corrupt governments tracking your behavior to fuel prosecutions, etc. The expected value (EV) of controlling your data is actually rather high when you look at the whole picture, and Google buying you off with webmail, videos and search no longer seems like such a good deal.
- theprivacydad 3y agoyes