Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Not OK, Google

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 594 posts

Re: Not OK, Google

#81

Post by falcolas »

pat2man wrote: post #20
mc32 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some people would be okay with that if: 1. That information were secret (you and service/device/implant) but not a whole company and its third party interests. 2. It wasn't making money for a third party after the initial purchase price for the device, service, etc.

So Siri.

Siri recordings are uploaded to the cloud for transcription, and reviewed by third parties to improve transcription and the AI. It also can arbitrarily decide to query search engines to answer questions.

So, better, but nowhere near "on the device only".

Re: Not OK, Google

#82

Post by jrowley »

arca_vorago wrote: post #52
nine_k wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

...until it's broken into. I suspect that chances of would-be burglars or identity thieves breaking into Google data are pretty slim, in comparison to a home-installed system. OTOH both Google and a private person can be strong-armed by a court order, or even a three-letter agency, to open up their AI knowledge vaults.

Im more worried about turn key totalitarian nation states having this info and then being able to walk the cat back.

Exactly. For example, see the news yesterday with Yahoo. Imagine instead of just emails, it was all of the data about all of us.

Re: Not OK, Google

#83

Post by gue5t »

JonathonW wrote: post #57
option_greek wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We always assumed they wouldn't spill their beans to third parties. I guess that was assuming too much.

Google doesn't "spill their beans" to third parties-- what Google actually sells is the opportunity for third parties to be included in the advertisements Google is targeting to their users. Google has a strong incentive to not allow their aggregated user data to leave Google-- the behavioral data Google collects is the reason why Google is valuable; if they start shipping that data off to third parties, suddenly the…

Google (or Facebook) is the third party. The first two are you and your computer.

Re: Not OK, Google

#84

Post by shaftway »

arkem wrote: post #31
wyager wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the predominant reason I use an iPhone. I don't like a lot of Apple's policies (mostly closed source, although that's where stock android has been gradually headed too) or their silly politics (Getting rid of the gun emoji? Really?), and I would rather go with Google on those grounds, but Apple's incentives with regard to privacy actually align with mine. In particular, they are a product company, not an adve…

What makes Google an advertising company and Apple a product company? Since both make products and sell advertising. Obviously advertising is more important to Google than it is to Apple but at what point does Apple become an advertising company and Google a product company? Is there a revenue threshold? A branding threshold? Edit: I'm not saying Google isn't an advertising company. I'm asking what makes Google (but…

> Probably if 99% of their revenue comes from advertising you can call them an advertising company

So what is Google then? As of 2015 Q4, ~90% of revenue comes from ads and it's trending down vs. other sources.

http://qz.com/607378/were-live-charting-googles-first-alphab...

Re: Not OK, Google

#85

Post by 0xmohit »

ubercore wrote: post #11

Google Now has done the same for me, told me how long it will take to get to a bar I frequent. My reaction was quite exactly "Oh that's neat, thanks!" and I went and had a great burger that night. Totally OK for me Google. I respect that people have different privacy thresholds, but I think the fact that it's different for everyone is being lost in articles like this.

You should be glad that it doesn't remind you:

"Hey, it's a been a while. Why don't you go to ... today? Traffic conditions are favorable too."

Re: Not OK, Google

#86

Post by [deleted] »

Malarkey73 wrote: post #58
unprepare wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

only if you hacked together your own search, maps, calendar, etc. as well. Maybe someday that will be a realistic endeavor, but it would take a lot of effort to set up and maintain your own personal versions of all of google's services, and integrate them

I think it's possible to create a hybrid whereby your personal AI - has access to those external systems to check public (maps, search) and cloud data (calendar, mail). But it stores the private data about your location, your searches, your purchases. this could even be an encrypted private fire-walled bit of cloud rather than a robot in your house. The point being your AI is serving you. And you can delete/edit this…

[deleted]

Re: Not OK, Google

#87

Post by [deleted] »

aRationalMoose wrote: post #21

I have an open ended question-- mostly born out of ignorance; But why is this a bad thing? Isn't an artificial assistant that not only knows and understands us but anticipates our needs incredibly useful? In the process, sure they'll collect your info for better advertising, but short of Totalitarian Surveillance or Data Breach Concerns (The former is a bit of a reach if you live in the west, and they can survey you…

[deleted]

Re: Not OK, Google

#88

Post by ubercore »

ozgung wrote: post #71
ubercore wrote: post #11

Google Now has done the same for me, told me how long it will take to get to a bar I frequent. My reaction was quite exactly "Oh that's neat, thanks!" and I went and had a great burger that night. Totally OK for me Google. I respect that people have different privacy thresholds, but I think the fact that it's different for everyone is being lost in articles like this.

It may be OK for you but there are at least three real concerns here: 1- There is no way to set your privacy level. 2- Things that Google/Siri/Alexa know about you are not limited with the name of the bar you go frequently. They know much more about you. And you don't know what they know. The sky is the limit here. 3- Things that they know are not limited with you personally. They know about you, your family, your fr…

1 - Sure there is, Google has fairly fine-grained tracking control. Not perfect, but as another commenter noted, this is a double-edged sword, as _too many_ controls can conversely hinder user control (see Facebook's privacy revamp)

2 - My point is that I personally am OK with Google's AI knowing more about me. I respect that others aren't. I'm not naive in my acceptance.

3 - I don't really have a response here.

Re: Not OK, Google

#89

Post by arkem »

quickben wrote: post #48
arkem wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes Google an advertising company and Apple a product company? Since both make products and sell advertising. Obviously advertising is more important to Google than it is to Apple but at what point does Apple become an advertising company and Google a product company? Is there a revenue threshold? A branding threshold? Edit: I'm not saying Google isn't an advertising company. I'm asking what makes Google (but…

More money coming from advertising than products? 90.4% revenue from advertising for Google https://www.statista.com/statistics/266249/advertising-reven... https://www.google.ca/search?q=google+total+revenue&ie=utf-8... vs Apple: http://marketingland.com/app-purchases-dominate-ads-app-stor...

Of course, I'm not saying that Google isn't an advertising company.

If Apple made 50% of its revenue from adverting would it still be a product company?

Is this distinction about the size of the business unit?

Re: Not OK, Google

#90

Post by tedunangst »

empath75 wrote: post #77
Eupolemos wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fear you will be unable to recognize when that burger was your choice and when it was a reaction. You probably won't notice. And that is harmless. I also fear you will be unable to notice in which areas of life and information the distinction between choice and reaction is harmless and which it isn't. Of course, I'm not talking about "You" you, but just people. Me as well. I feel we are widening the field of uncons…

I think for quite a large number of people, allowing AIs to make decisions for them will probably be better for them.

Imagine some day your doctor advises to cut back on burgers and alcohol. Is Google going to incorporate that advice in its bar recommendations?
Post reply on HN