Does Google have access to our phone conversations? • Hacker News Board

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#11

Post by _fff_ » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:10 AM UTC

cleverjake wrote: post #8

brudgers wrote: post #7

Google's privacy policy allows them to use a person's data to develop new products and services. Scanning voice communications for key words and then converting those into targeted advertising seems like it would be consistent with such use. And without the intent to do something along those lines, it is hard to see a business case under which Google could justify devoting resources to Voice.

voice search.

Google isn't in the search business.

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#12

Post by debayan » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:11 AM UTC

I am the guy who wrote the blog post. None of this is a joke. It is all true. I guess you guys will have to take my word for it.

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#13

Post by tszming » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:11 AM UTC

How do I opt out of interest-based advertising? http://www.google.com/policies/privacy/ads/#toc-optout

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#14

Post by evolve2k » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:14 AM UTC

On a related note, a friend was recently telling me they think Apples big strategy is in being able to mine the Siri data stream of a user. So to me this doesn't seem as far fetched when considered from that perspective.

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#15

Post by wxl » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:16 AM UTC

evolve2k wrote: post #14

On a related note, a friend was recently telling me they think Apples big strategy is in being able to mine the Siri data stream of a user. So to me this doesn't seem as far fetched when considered from that perspective.

Getting Siri data and recording phone calls are totally different things. Siri using your data to improve itself isn't a big deal, in my opinion. That's because you're talking directly to a service, you shouldn't expect it to be totally private.

Phone calls are different, they're meant to be private.

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#16

Post by debayan » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:17 AM UTC

EwanToo wrote: post #10

I think this post was written mostly as a joke, right? First of all, it was written in 2009, secondly it starts: Now this is really really eerie stuff. Today I came to office wearing my “Holland” T-shirt. I normally never wear this shirt to office. I fired up my Gmail in the browser, and see a “Study in Holland” Google ad! Now, maybe my sense of humour is way off, but I think the guy wasn't being serious about Google…

It is possible to do it though. I was in bangalore when that happened (and carried a non-Android phone at that time). Google already knows what I look like, and Banaglore is full of surveillance cameras everywhere. It also knew where my office was based on my GMail login co-ordinates. So if you stitch up all of that you can produce that sort of advertisements. (I am the author of the blog post)

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#17

Post by uptown » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:25 AM UTC

brudgers wrote: post #7

Google's privacy policy allows them to use a person's data to develop new products and services. Scanning voice communications for key words and then converting those into targeted advertising seems like it would be consistent with such use. And without the intent to do something along those lines, it is hard to see a business case under which Google could justify devoting resources to Voice.

"And without the intent to do something along those lines, it is hard to see a business case under which Google could justify devoting resources to Voice."

I agree. They offer Google Voice, and it's easy to assume they apply the same type of analysis to voice communications like they do with other forms of communication.

http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#18

Post by deobrats » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:26 AM UTC

Did anyone try to look at this patent (mentioned in the original blog-post):-

http://www.google.com/patents/US20040083101

And the blog-post wasn't talking about "Google Voice". It was regular phone conversation (pre-android). The author believes (and I sort of agree with him) that Google perhaps has a deal with service providers (in India) that allows them to mine voice conversations and use the information to provide targeted content.

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#19

Post by stef25 » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:42 AM UTC

deobrats wrote: post #18

Did anyone try to look at this patent (mentioned in the original blog-post):- http://www.google.com/patents/US20040083101 And the blog-post wasn't talking about "Google Voice". It was regular phone conversation (pre-android). The author believes (and I sort of agree with him) that Google perhaps has a deal with service providers (in India) that allows them to mine voice conversations and use the information to provid…

How would it map a voice conversation to a computer ('s IP) to serve ads to?

Re: Does Google have access to our phone conversations?

#20

Post by deobrats » Thu, May 10, 2012, 11:45 AM UTC

stef25 wrote: post #19

deobrats wrote: post #18

Did anyone try to look at this patent (mentioned in the original blog-post):- http://www.google.com/patents/US20040083101 And the blog-post wasn't talking about "Google Voice". It was regular phone conversation (pre-android). The author believes (and I sort of agree with him) that Google perhaps has a deal with service providers (in India) that allows them to mine voice conversations and use the information to provid…

How would it map a voice conversation to a computer ('s IP) to serve ads to?

Phone number!

Telcos ask for email addresses at the time of subscribing to their plans. Most people end up providing their gmail address. This gentleman did too.