I know google’s motto is “don’t do evil”, but looking at the raw information (”user-tracking via cookies”, “anonymization only after 18-24 months”, etc.) who’s first impression wouldn’t be that he or she is under surveilance? After all, google is THE leading search engine and I don’t know any “normal” person in Germany that is not using google for their queries (most people don’t even know there are other search engines out there).

If you have such a massive impact on the market, you’ll probably have to deal with these kinds of thoughts – though it does seem unfair that AOL, msn and the others get better grades while leaking data…

I just wish google was more specific of what exactly was stored on their servers and in which way this data was used, interpreted (and possibly sold).

Anyway, apart from all the criticism, I’d probably lack a lot of knowledge without google…

If I’m right, Google will have to start selling user data (if they are not already) in one form or another; with time and shareholder pressure, there is a real risk that there will be a slippery slope leading to abuse.

I’d actually be happy to pay as an individual user for GMail/Calendar/Reader etc. in return for iron-clad guarantees about privacy and only reasonable guarantees about data integrity.

Can (~John)

I think it would be safe to say I once was a Google fanboy, thought you were better than others. Perhaps this was naive. But I realized when you caved in to the Chinese censors that you don’t resent ill begotten cash. I never cared what others did, because I didn’t use other search engines. You said you do no evil, I did not expect this. But I got it the first time.

It took me some looking around, but I’ve found another e-mail service. Tried it out for a few months. It’s a paid service with bells and whistles, but what really matters is that the company is reputable.

Other Google tools such as Docs & Spreadsheets I never really needed. Tools for webmasters I’ll need to keep using. Web searching; well I’m using Tor, but I’d want a service I didn’t see the need to access this way.

Have you ever visited Google-Watch.org? Do you think their accusations are accurate?

I think my own opinion is that technology allows anyone to collect as much information as they want and use it as they want. Google can say they are “anonymizing” logs but are they really?

Also: there are plenty of companies that collect information such as Choicepoint, Acxiom, etc. These companies are probably worse offenders than Google, but their main biz is not the internet. As far as I know.

I recently wrote an article for my blog about the Big Three… Google, Microsoft, and eBay… called “100% Microsoft-free by 2008″ ( http://brucewagner.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/100-microsoft-free-by-2008/ )

I’ve just added some excerpts from some of your comments here… Thanks, people.

Privacy is the issue.

Google is not a search engine anymore.
eBay is not an auction site anymore.
Microsoft is not a software publisher anymore.

A CHALLENGE FOR YOU:

Just TRY living without using any of the tools of these three Big Brother-like companies.

This is the first news I’ve heard about PI. Are they well known? I wonder how much attention they’ve earned by slamming Google, and if this earns them a position (in some people’s eyes) as the only iconoclasts brave enough to cast doubt on a Sacred Cow.