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Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

theintercept.com

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Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#151

Post by jhayward »

chooseaname wrote: post #38
canadianwriter wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just want to throw out that pixel trackers are EXTREMELY common - you probably have an insane amount in your inbox now and a lot of email software uses them by default. Not saying this is okay, just giving that context.

I turn off downloading images by default. They'll have to work harder to know if I read my email.

At one time gmail went ahead and fetched the images anyway, but didn't display them. The tracking still could record the "open event" although it didn't get a hit directly from the user's browser, rather through Google's image cache server.

I don't know if that's still the case.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#152

Post by apostacy »

krn wrote: post #112
JoshMnem wrote: post #34

> "The Dragonfly memo reveals that a prototype of the censored search engine was being developed as an app for both Android and iOS devices, and would force users to sign in so they could use the service. The memo confirms, as The Intercept first reported last week, that users’ searches would be associated with their personal phone number. The memo adds that Chinese users’ movements would also be stored, along with t…

I installed Chromium on Ubuntu today, and on the first run was given an opportunity to opt out from Google's personalized ads being shown to me based on my entire web browsing history. It was that moment when I realized, that what I had just installed was not primarily a web browser, but a Google application with a web browsing feature built-in. Because everything in it was built to optimize Google's ad revenue. It e…

I am so saddened by how much we trust Google. I wish we regarded Google software with more suspicion. Would people have been nearly as upset if it had been Google that acquired GitHub?

I miss the days of being suspicious of Microsoft. But Microsoft isn't nearly as diabolical as Google, nor are they as competent.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#153

Post by qubax »

lolc wrote: post #84

> “Leadership misled engineers working on [Dragonfly] about the nature of their work, depriving them of moral agency,” said a Google employee who read the memo. Lying to our own colleagues now are we? The end justifies the means I guess. Wait, what was the end again?

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive..."

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#154

Post by 394549 »

IBM wrote: post #137
bduerst wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was back in February. Since then there's been some shuffling of the companies who own the servers with the keys so that China now has access. From July 2018: >Fast forward to today: China Telecom, a government owned telco, is taking over the iCloud data from Guizhou-Cloud Big Data. This essentially means that a state-owned firm now has access to all the iCloud data China-based users store, such as photos, notes,…

That report doesn't say that Apple no longer retains control of the keys.

> That report doesn't say that Apple no longer retains control of the keys.

Even if it does (which is unclear), do you think Apple will be able to refuse if the Chinese government asks for them? I wouldn't be surprised of "the laws and regulations of China" say that Apple is required to turn them over.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#156

Post by skybrian »

pcwalton wrote: post #142
skybrian wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be a better argument if they were planning to do something illegal.

I readily acknowledge that it is perfectly legal to aid the PRC in imprisoning and torturing dissidents.

You keep making these arguments using hyperbolic examples that have little or nothing to do with what Google might (depending on how the internal politics work out) end up launching.

Predicting the future is tricky, particularly when it involves the decisions of complicated political processes where the decision-makers (most likely) disagree. Plans often change. We can't possibly know what they're going to do. Maybe nothing; plenty of large corporate projects never launch.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#157

Post by magicalist »

JoshMnem wrote: post #34

> "The Dragonfly memo reveals that a prototype of the censored search engine was being developed as an app for both Android and iOS devices, and would force users to sign in so they could use the service. The memo confirms, as The Intercept first reported last week, that users’ searches would be associated with their personal phone number. The memo adds that Chinese users’ movements would also be stored, along with t…

> The new version of Chrome signs you into the browser even if you don't want to sign into the software itself. You can't really use Google's browsing device (Google Chrome) without providing your identity, if you ever want to sign into a Google website.

It doesn't sounds like you've actually tried this.

It doesn't sign you into anything but the google website, just like before. You have to turn on browser sync to sign into the browser. Seriously, try it. Your passwords, history, etc aren't there, and nothing shows up in your history from that session. Signing out of gmail still signs you out.

The new system is annoying because it makes it more difficult (impossible?) to sync to one Google account while having another one be the primary signed in one, but it doesn't sign the browser into anything on its own.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#158

Post by bduerst »

echevil wrote: post #108
dustinmoorenet wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because Google doesn't come to your house, take you in for questioning and then pressuring you into confessing that you did something wrong which disturbed civil order. Stories about what happens in China: https://chinachange.org/

They would still send your data to the government when there is a subpoena I suppose

If they didn't comply with subpoenas, people would be complaining that Google thought it was above the law.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#159

Post by Aunche »

pcwalton wrote: post #149
Aunche wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whistleblowing only applies to things that are illegal. Just because you have a personal objection to something doesn't mean you can leak whatever you want.

Just to be clear, you're saying that it is unprofessional to tell the press if you know your colleagues aided in the torture and imprisonment of a dissident?

Google is doing what already happens in China. What if the torturer used Google to look up torturing techniques? We should just leak all of their source code. To go even further, the taxes China collects the imports you buy may be paying the torturer. I'm going to need you to give all your credit card information for me to make sure.

Re: Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China

#160

Post by JoshMnem »

magicalist wrote: post #157
JoshMnem wrote: post #34

> "The Dragonfly memo reveals that a prototype of the censored search engine was being developed as an app for both Android and iOS devices, and would force users to sign in so they could use the service. The memo confirms, as The Intercept first reported last week, that users’ searches would be associated with their personal phone number. The memo adds that Chinese users’ movements would also be stored, along with t…

> The new version of Chrome signs you into the browser even if you don't want to sign into the software itself. You can't really use Google's browsing device (Google Chrome) without providing your identity, if you ever want to sign into a Google website. It doesn't sounds like you've actually tried this. It doesn't sign you into anything but the google website, just like before. You have to turn on browser sync to si…

I've tried it multiple times and logging into a Google website automatically logs you into the browser itself (not just the website). Trying to clear cookies now doesn't clear Google's cookies either. Chrome 69.
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