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The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

wsj.com

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Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#31

Post by ocdtrekkie »

thisisit wrote: post #27
dqpb wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your getting the "what-about-ism" argument backwards. This isn't avoiding talking about Google by saying "What about Facebook". This is comparing the two to highlight it's point about Google, the subject of the article.

Maybe I have it wrong but what-about-ism isn't only about avoidance. It is also about drawing an equivalence saying - "Yes, X is bad but what about Y?" The idea being if everyone does it then X hasn't done anything wrong.

Noone is saying Facebook hasn't done anything wrong. We just don't want Google to get away with it.

Whataboutism would be if we were to suggest Facebook isn't that bad because Google does it too. But articles like this are trying to point out that both companies are doing bad things: We should be going after both of them.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#32

Post by mda »

lucideer wrote: post #5
dannyw wrote: post #4

I think Google is a lot less creepy than Facebook. Yes, they vacuum a lot of data, but I do get directly related benefits from it, as well as controls that I trust. Example: Location history. It is turned off by default. I chose to turn it on, so I can know places I’ve been to previously (if I forget the name). It’s like a journal that writes itself. Google has its privacy issues, but on a whole I voluntarily choose…

> controls that I trust. I think this trust might be misplaced. > Example: Location history. It is turned off by default. Displaying your location history to you is turned off by default. Google's own recording of your location, for their purposes, cannot be turned off.

This is not true.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#33

Post by ocdtrekkie »

sharcerer wrote: post #24
dannyw wrote: post #4

I think Google is a lot less creepy than Facebook. Yes, they vacuum a lot of data, but I do get directly related benefits from it, as well as controls that I trust. Example: Location history. It is turned off by default. I chose to turn it on, so I can know places I’ve been to previously (if I forget the name). It’s like a journal that writes itself. Google has its privacy issues, but on a whole I voluntarily choose…

Yeah. Basically there are 2 issues : security,privacy. With any data vased company privacy eill always be a concern so they should try to assure users by giving them top notch security. Google does that. Their security is great. Facebook: a big NO. Just a question. Does google listen through the microphone? Some people show demos on youtube that they talk on phone about something or even say something out loud and th…

Google's security is as good as they cover their own rear on it. For instance, Google Chrome is hailed as being incredible at security, but they allow extensions which can read and modify the contents of every website you visit with little to no scrutiny. Malware is rampant and distributed directly from Google's extension market, but Chrome is "secure", because by definition, Chrome permits the extensions to be malicious, so it isn't a break in Chrome's definition of security.

In this case, they just blame you for installing an extension that behaves badly.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#34

Post by lmkg »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #22
lucideer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> controls that I trust. I think this trust might be misplaced. > Example: Location history. It is turned off by default. Displaying your location history to you is turned off by default. Google's own recording of your location, for their purposes, cannot be turned off.

> Google's own recording of your location, for their purposes, cannot be turned off. Citation needed. Android even lets you turn off AGPS, which collects anonymous location data to update itself. As far as I know, this is not even possible on iOS.

I assume OP is talking about geo information inferred from IP Address.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#35

Post by secure »

redm wrote: post #3

Just some of the ways Google collects data [1]: Google Search, Google Fiber, Google Recaptcha, Google Translate, Google Adsense, Google Chrome (Safe Browsing checks etc.), Google DNS (8.8.4.4 etc.), Google Mail, Android Integrations, Google GSuite (Sheets, Docs, etc.), Google Drive, Google Analytics, Google AMP, YouTube So on and so forth. Of course, Google keeps most of this data to themselves to improve products an…

The data collected for Google Public DNS is actually very reasonable. Have a look at https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy.

I haven’t checked the other products, just wanted to point this out since people seem to assume worse than what’s actually happening (for Google Public DNS, at least).

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#36

Post by ocdtrekkie »

ucaetano wrote: post #29
kodablah wrote: post #26

Didn't read the article, but does anyone see some media narrative happening here? One part of me would like to think that they are just publishing what readers want. But another part says there is an underlying narrative. I can almost predict the news cycle wrt tech, data collection, privacy, etc. Does anyone stop to think, why now? I fear this is a rolling snowball started during the election and it won't end until…

> but does anyone see some media narrative happening here? WSJ is owned by Murdoch's News Corp. He has been in a anti-Google crusade for a while. 2009: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/11/murdoch_vs_google... 2014: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/18/rupert_murdoch_says...

Why is it that no one ever suggests articles about Facebook's privacy violations are part of some anti-Facebook conspiracy?

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#37

Post by [deleted] »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #36
ucaetano wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but does anyone see some media narrative happening here? WSJ is owned by Murdoch's News Corp. He has been in a anti-Google crusade for a while. 2009: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/11/murdoch_vs_google... 2014: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/18/rupert_murdoch_says...

Why is it that no one ever suggests articles about Facebook's privacy violations are part of some anti-Facebook conspiracy?

[deleted]

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#38

Post by sfotm »

krizzo wrote: post #12
dwighttk wrote: post #2

https://duckduckgo.com https://protonmail.com https://apple.com

The mail is only as secure as who you send it too. If you email a Yahoo or Gmail account the email may be secure on your proton server but open to the others. The thing about security is everyone else has to do it or it breaks down. Gmail and other free email providers make it so easy people don't want to change.

Protonmail does have the ability to send emails in a secure fashion regardless of the receiver’s provider via a link.

Obviously it’s inconvenient and I wouldn’t use it for the lion’s share of my emails, but if I were sending something like a password or a code I certainly would.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#39

Post by Froyoh »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #22
lucideer wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> controls that I trust. I think this trust might be misplaced. > Example: Location history. It is turned off by default. Displaying your location history to you is turned off by default. Google's own recording of your location, for their purposes, cannot be turned off.

> Google's own recording of your location, for their purposes, cannot be turned off. Citation needed. Android even lets you turn off AGPS, which collects anonymous location data to update itself. As far as I know, this is not even possible on iOS.

They do track it and will prevent logins from unusual locations. Happened to me when using a VPN.

Re: The Many Ways Google Harvests Data

#40

Post by kodablah »

ucaetano wrote: post #29
kodablah wrote: post #26

Didn't read the article, but does anyone see some media narrative happening here? One part of me would like to think that they are just publishing what readers want. But another part says there is an underlying narrative. I can almost predict the news cycle wrt tech, data collection, privacy, etc. Does anyone stop to think, why now? I fear this is a rolling snowball started during the election and it won't end until…

> but does anyone see some media narrative happening here? WSJ is owned by Murdoch's News Corp. He has been in a anti-Google crusade for a while. 2009: https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2009/11/murdoch_vs_google... 2014: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/18/rupert_murdoch_says...

I don't consider this specific to a single media outlet (or ownership group) and I don't consider this specific to a specific company. Media outlets will publish anything anti-tech they can now because it helps stoke this raging fire. Just be careful of what comes out of the ashes. When asking "why was this published" when reading an article, don't get stopped too early by finding some link on the specific article, who wrote it, or who it mentions by name. Instead, think about the broader approach and intended effect.
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