Re: Protesting google groups

On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 06:21:57 -0500, David C. Ullrich
<ullrich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>On Sat, 6 Aug 2005 16:35:02 -0600, "gb7648" <gb7648@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>the message is stop archiving all groups messages because the way its set up it violates privacy
>
>I know I'm going to regret asking this...
>
>Exactly how does it violate privacy?
>
>(You're not suggesting that messages that you intentionally
>posted on usenet, where you know that anyone anywhere can
>read them, are supposed to be private, are you?)
>
>>and creates miseries in people's lives
>>

Google is kind of an electronic ankle monitor.

Here are 9 specific concerns which I found on the net:

1. Google's immortal cookie:

Google was the first search engine to use a cookie that expires in
2038. This was at a time when federal websites were prohibited from
using persistent cookies altogether. Now it's years later, and
immortal cookies are commonplace among search engines; Google set the
standard because no one bothered to challenge them. This cookie places
a unique ID number on your hard disk. Anytime you land on a Google
page, you get a Google cookie if you don't already have one. If you
have one, they read and record your unique ID number.

2. Google records everything they can:

For all searches they record the cookie ID, your Internet IP address,
the time and date, your search terms, and your browser configuration.
Increasingly, Google is customizing results based on your IP number.
This is referred to in the industry as "IP delivery based on
geolocation."

3. Google retains all data indefinitely:

Google has no data retention policies. There is evidence that they are
able to easily access all the user information they collect and save.

4. Google won't say why they need this data:

Inquiries to Google about their privacy policies are ignored. When the
New York Times (2002-11-28) asked Sergey Brin about whether Google
ever gets subpoenaed for this information, he had no comment.

5. Google hires spooks:

Matt Cutts, a key Google engineer, used to work for the National
Security Agency. Google wants to hire more people with security
clearances, so that they can peddle their corporate assets to the
spooks in Washington.

6. Google's toolbar is spyware:

With the advanced features enabled, Google's free toolbar for Explorer
phones home with every page you surf, and yes, it reads your cookie
too. Their privacy policy confesses this, but that's only because
Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit when their toolbar did the same
thing, and their privacy policy failed to explain this. Worse yet,
Google's toolbar updates to new versions quietly, and without asking.
This means that if you have the toolbar installed, Google essentially
has complete access to your hard disk every time you connect to Google
(which is many times a day). Most software vendors, and even
Microsoft, ask if you'd like an updated version. But not Google. Any
software that updates automatically presents a massive security risk.

7. Google's cache copy is illegal:

Judging from Ninth Circuit precedent on the application of U.S.
copyright laws to the Internet, Google's cache copy appears to be
illegal. The only way a webmaster can avoid having his site cached on
Google is to put a "noarchive" meta in the header of every page on his
site. Surfers like the cache, but webmasters don't. Many webmasters
have deleted questionable material from their sites, only to discover
later that the problem pages live merrily on in Google's cache. The
cache copy should be "opt-in" for webmasters, not "opt-out."

8. Google is not your friend:

By now Google enjoys a 75 percent monopoly for all external referrals
to most websites. Webmasters cannot avoid seeking Google's approval
these days, assuming they want to increase traffic to their site. If
they try to take advantage of some of the known weaknesses in Google's
semi-secret algorithms, they may find themselves penalized by Google,
and their traffic disappears. There are no detailed, published
standards issued by Google, and there is no appeal process for
penalized sites. Google is completely unaccountable. Most of the time
Google doesn't even answer email from webmasters.

9. Google is a privacy time bomb:

With 200 million searches per day, most from outside the U.S., Google
amounts to a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Those
newly-commissioned data-mining bureaucrats in Washington can only
dream about the sort of slick efficiency that Google has already
achieved.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Risks Digest 24.06
    ... Google, Privacy, and Masochism ... Legal docs expose various risks in routine Diebold maintenance in NC ... Re: Mea culpa: How we got it wrong on CNID ...
    (comp.risks)
  • OT - U.S. Obtains Internet Users Search Records
    ... but the data trove stirs privacy fears. ... government could seek more detailed information later. ... The issue came to light this week only when Google Inc., ... Government lawyers filed a brief in U.S. District Court in San Jose ...
    (sci.med.diseases.hepatitis)
  • U.S. Obtains Internet Users Search Records
    ... but the data trove stirs privacy fears. ... government could seek more detailed information later. ... The issue came to light this week only when Google Inc., ... Government lawyers filed a brief in U.S. District Court in San Jose ...
    (soc.rights.human)
  • Re: Protesting google groups
    ... >>Google is kind of an electronic ankle monitor. ... Google's immortal cookie: ... >of privacy seems ridiculous - if you don't want Google to know ... How is this a violation of privacy? ...
    (sci.math)
  • YouTube, Viacom Fight Over Users
    ... Court Order for Viewer Data on YouTube Stirs Privacy Concerns ... A federal-court order that requires Google Inc. to provide information ... A YouTube database that records each time a video is watched ...
    (soc.culture.romanian)