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After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

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Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#81

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement

Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience.

Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The least you can do is to support them in maintaining their ad ecosystem in return. Or be ready to pay for their servuces. Unlike Facebook, Google has never had a data breach/trust issue.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which is also what's behind journalists, bloggers, etc. all hating on Facebook too, but nobody ever wants to hear that. Yeah, no. Generalisations are stupid. Doctorow's a perfect example of why what you're saying isn't true, for example.

One counterexample doesn't prove anything, and Doctorow is barely even a relevant example. It's journalists who feel most threatened by Facebook, as they see their subscriber base - and thus their own income opportunities - dwindling. Pseudo-journalist commentators even more so. Once they might have looked to Facebook as a possible ally, a channel through which they could ply their profession, but increasingly (to an…

Just want to add: journalists still hold moral high ground.

FB wants to/already has sucked away money and locked in content providers by making themselves the de facto platform, when previously the platform was just "the Internet".

People like to accuse MS and Apple for "embrace, extend, extinguish" tactics, but FB straight up did it for real, it's just they did it to content providers instead of developers and end-users.

Media companies now see the error in their ways and I'm honestly happy for them to attack FB.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#83
post #73
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll bite. What's actually better than: * Gmail * Search * Docs And all of the Integration that works cross platform for all of those.

DuckDuckGo is great for search. Google search had one killer feature that would have me come back a few times a month, but they discontinued it: Things like “12573238458 bytes / 22 days in Mbps” used to do the unit conversions and print the answer. Docs’ only killer feature for me is inline comments (and not requiring windows update...). Even atlassian has that now. I hate the gmail UI, and just access it via ldap; t…

That unit conversion still happens?

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#84

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience. Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The…

Okay actually, I would pay to use most of Google's good services. I expect them to do advertising and they do not (!) need that kind of data on me for their search result advertising to be relevant. They have my search term; that should be enough in isolation.

I would pay handsomely for Google Maps, but I have no such option. Again though, that is a service that works just fine without my individual data; they have my location and my search term, and any business that pops up is inherently relevant due to simple proximity.

Please do not call this entitlement. Please understand that my privacy is valuable to me. Please understand that I would gladly pay to keep it.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#85
post #73
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll bite. What's actually better than: * Gmail * Search * Docs And all of the Integration that works cross platform for all of those.

DuckDuckGo is great for search. Google search had one killer feature that would have me come back a few times a month, but they discontinued it: Things like “12573238458 bytes / 22 days in Mbps” used to do the unit conversions and print the answer. Docs’ only killer feature for me is inline comments (and not requiring windows update...). Even atlassian has that now. I hate the gmail UI, and just access it via ldap; t…

> Things like “12573238458 bytes / 22 days in Mbps” used to do the unit conversions and print the answer.

https://i.imgur.com/pun2Jnm.png

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#86

Concerned that google has so much info ( https://myactivity.google.com/myactivity ) I visited https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols to turn off Web & App Activity, but left Voice & Audio Activity on. This breaks my google home. I do not want Google to save 20 years of search history so I can use a stupid google home. For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. This is a dark pattern Google

They also do this with Google Maps on Android. Disabled Location History sharing with Google? Sorry, we cannot remember the last search term you entered in Google Maps ON THE SAME DEVICE. This is so infuriating

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#87
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For the first time I'm considering Apple's device. Apple does collect analytics, but those can be turned off in OSX at the very least. As a company, they are not currently geared towards data collection. They have publicly positioned themselves in favor of privacy.

Please don't forget the treasure trove of data Apple gets via iCloud services, which rival Googles if you're invested in their ecosystem - contacts, calendars, emails, location (Find my phone), all application data (backups), etc. They don't also fully encrypt all of that information and give it to government on request.

[deleted]

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#88

The fact that google assistant won't even work without enabling web&app activity really pisses me off. Most of time I use the voice controls to set timer or notes. Why does it need my web history to do that?

Alexa, turn off Google Assistant.

In all seriousness, this is just sad.

Re: After Facebook scrutiny, is Google next?

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah - you want to make use of Google services (search, maps, youtube, Photos etc.) for free and don't want to give anything in return. #entitlement Also, most likely you turning off tracking will impact your Google experience. Google is different than Facebook in that they offer real value services without which you can't survive a day on the web. Just count how many times you rely on a Google service in a day. The…

Okay actually, I would pay to use most of Google's good services. I expect them to do advertising and they do not (!) need that kind of data on me for their search result advertising to be relevant. They have my search term; that should be enough in isolation. I would pay handsomely for Google Maps, but I have no such option. Again though, that is a service that works just fine without my individual data; they have m…

That is totally fair. My main point here was the users have to pay one way or the other. Either via more seeing more targeted ads, which sacrifices their privacy, or via real $$.
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