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Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

theintercept.com

211–220 of 436 posts

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#211

IMO, obeying Chinese law is similar to obeying GDPR. It's not smart for any corporation to fight governments.

And many corporations that don't specifically do business in the EU chose not to comply with the GDPR, which is fine. (I mean, I like the GDPR, and wish they would comply, but it's valid.)

The consequences for Google not obeying the demands of China are just... getting blocked in China, no?

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#212
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And why should they do that? What was the last time Western interventionism brought any good for the world? Who are the US and EU representing to tell other countries how to live their lives??

Right. If the US is representing anybody, it’s Google. For the Americans who want your government to represent you , you’ve got some work to do. Most Americans I know speak of their government as though it were just some poorly run business that somebody else is responsible for. Get your own house in order before you criticize others peoples’.

get out of your echo chamber and speak to more Americans

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#213
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google is the destroyer of privacy. Google tracks their users at an unprecedented level in the whole history of humanity and if they do this, we now have concrete proof that they don't have values that are above their bottom line. Sure Google stores a lot of data about me, but why should I be worried? They haven't done anything malicious with it. All user data from Google stays on Google, so how is that any differe…

How do you know it stays with Google? From Google's Privacy Policy: We provide personal information to our affiliates and other trusted businesses or persons to process it for us, based on our instructions and in compliance with our Privacy Policy and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures. For example, we use service providers to help us with customer support.

And even without that, if they allow very specific groups of people to be targeted based on very detailed criteria, with very specific ads.. then your data still leaks to unknown 3rd parties, though indirectly.

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#214
post #11
post #4

So what had fundamentally changed here? Is it just that China is a bigger market now? Did Google think they actually had enough leverage to get the Chinese to back down? Are the founders simply less idealistic than before?

The moral compass has shifted and Silicon Valley has learned to embrace censorship, at home and abroad.

The "moral compass" in the ad/surveillance industry was always set up to indicate the direction of money, and only existed as a tool for PR to begin with.

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#215
post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alphabet Inc helped pro-American terrorists in Syria https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/12166#efmAMoAbj . Only a tribunal will show hopefully how many people were affected by this.

I didn't know opposing the brutal Syrian dictatorship got people labeled "Gestapo," but here we are.

There are many games where the only winning move is not to play. This is one of them. Helping either side is a crime against humanity.

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#216
post #114

Why should Apple be the only ones making money hand over fist from China (and be lauded for their eye popping revenues every quarter)

Making phones is different from helping censorship.

Although admittedly, their phone operation is also controversial by letting works work extensively.

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#217
post #150

Google employees practically rioted when they found out their employer was trying to get a contract with the American Government, but will just cash their RSUs when they help the Chinese government censor its citizens. Sad.

The Chinese government is going to censor its citizens regardless though.

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#218
post #199

There might be many tech companies in China, no doubt, including big names, and companies should comply with local regulations if they want to do business, however the fact that Google pulled their search engine out of China, defying their censorship attempts, is one big reason for why I respected Google, in spite of my reservations for them. So let me tell you what I think as an EU citizen that's actively concerned…

> Google is the destroyer of privacy. Google tracks their users at an unprecedented level in the whole history of humanity and if they do this, we now have concrete proof that they don't have values that are above their bottom line. Sure Google stores a lot of data about me, but why should I be worried? They haven't done anything malicious with it. All user data from Google stays on Google, so how is that any differe…

>Sure Google stores a lot of data about me, but why should I be worried? They haven't done anything malicious with it.

>All user data from Google stays on Google

No, there is no company who cannot be hacked, whether from an insider or an outsider.

Big data is what enabled the operational efficiency of the Holocaust[1]. Imagine the mass scale, micro targeted cyber attacks a bad person could do with a little programming/algorithms knowledge and a data dump of the most detailed psychological/demographical profiles in history on billions of people.

Google and FB are building dual-use tools of mass destruction/manipulation. While they may only use it for advertising, there are plenty of worse things it could be used for. Plain old censorship is just getting your toes wet.

[1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Re: Google Plans to Launch Censored Search Engine in China, Leaked Documents Reveal

#220

Because Google's search engine isn't censored in the rest of its locations?

Yeah it's strange how nobody talks about the fact that google search is getting less and less relevant and more and more filled with garbage every year. It's downright terrible, I have to go to social media or search with lots of domain operators (if I can remember them) to actually find what I'm looking for. I'm sure google's "analytics" say they are doing great and results are more relevant and engaging for them an…

> Yeah it's strange how nobody talks about the fact that google search is getting less and less relevant

Because it's not a fact? Or just a fact in a narrow community you belong to?

I haven't seen anybody using something else for at least 10 years now.

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