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Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

bradfrost.com

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Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#301

Post by Chaebixi »

bastijn wrote: post #274
Chaebixi wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why? Well, the problem with Google is they have an incentive to do bad things to us, simply because we are not the real customer. I am one of Google's real customers, I bought an expensive phone from them, but, to quote Josh Marshall: > One thing I’ve observed with Google over the years is that it is institutionally so used to its ‘customers’ actually being its products that when it gets into businesses where it ac…

Are you? Or did you just pay them peanuts for a tracking device that helps them make many times your peanuts with their real (real) customers?

I think that attitude is exactly what I was talking about.

I paid Google directly; I am their customer. But they don't know what to do with user-customers, so they treat me like the kind of user-product that they're more familiar with.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#302

Post by ciconia »

saulrh wrote: post #42

I'm going to be completely honest here: If these things were behind a configuration option and defaulted to off, I'd have gone into my phone and turned that option on. I want to leave reviews for restaurants as I'm walking out of them - it serves the common good and doing it immediately is better for memory. I want to remember to download offline maps when I'm about to go somewhere where I won't have coverage. My mem…

> My memory is terrible enough that I can't do those things myself.

I get that all those services are helpful to someone who's easily distracted, but I'm afraid using them is the last thing that's going to help your memory. It just makes you more dependent.

Personally I prefer not to use Google's auto-complete, I can spell just fine thank you. We're bloody human beings, we're supposed to be like the smartest thing on this planet, don't we?

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#303

Post by bastijn »

throwanem wrote: post #292
bastijn wrote: post #276

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It serves Google and the common good. There. Fixed it for you. You can’t deny the benefits it brings to the average person having all this information a (google) search away.

I can deny that Google doing something that happens to serve its specific interests, and that Google may without gainsay or penalty discontinue doing at any instant it should so please, qualifies as a common good. I can deny that all day !

Okay I’ll bite. It serves the common good today, but if you intend to say it may turn out to make us live our lives based on something that can disappear any day and that would cause more harm than the benefits up to that point, then yes, this sentence is too long.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#304

Post by bastijn »

urda wrote: post #294
erispoe wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Google Pixel 2 starts at $649. Pixel prices are comparable with iPhones.

iPhones and Apple have demonstrated that privacy is a top concern for their users. Google and their Pixel devices, not so much.

Google has much more to gain with mining your data as they have the channels to turn it into profit. Apple has a better chance making profit from their devices than their users data.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#305

Post by dingaling »

exhilaration wrote: post #283
cm2187 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The network provider records which antenna you trigger but has no need of recording your precise GPS location. Google has absolutely no good reason to record your GPS location without your consent other than for nosy purposes.

My understanding is that thanks to E911 your precise location is tracked, and that's the information that mobile phone network operators provide to law enforcement through their location portals: ... web portal that Sprint provides law enforcement to conduct automated “pings” to track users. Through the website, authorized agents can type in a mobile phone number and obtain global positioning system (GPS) coordinates…

I think that's just a misuse of GPS as a substitute term for 'high-precision' location, probably from cell tower data.

There is a common misconception that GPS is some sort of surveillance system that can return the position of a receiver.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#306

Post by Chaebixi »

nevi-me wrote: post #296
erispoe wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Google Pixel 2 starts at $649. Pixel prices are comparable with iPhones.

I think the point being made is that a once-off amount for the hardware might be way less than what they get to make over those 2 years that you use the device (at least in aggregate as not everyone will buy a Pixel)

That may be true, but it's also forgetting the fact that the Pixel-owner is a customer, whose needs and wants the product should be catered to.

It's sort of like if Google sold a robot that happened to also steal money from your wallet. If they could get away with it, it'd be profitable for them, but there would still be something wrong with their behavior.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#307

Post by DrScump »

bastijn wrote: post #276
throwanem wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it serves the common good No, it serves Google.

> It serves Google and the common good. There. Fixed it for you. You can’t deny the benefits it brings to the average person having all this information a (google) search away.

But I get all those same benefits simply from other people not carrying about their own privacy and security. I still keep location services, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. off except when I'm using them in the moment and create a separate Google ID for each phone. My individual habits get lost in the noise.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#308

Post by wand3r »

Siemer wrote: post #280
cm2187 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be completely fine with all that even if it was turned on by default and if there was a simple off button. The point of the author of the article is that it is a permanent struggle with privacy settings. It's the same on Windows 10. There are like 30 registry entries one needs to change to turn off the spying, and they keep adding more. Like the author, this is a game I just have no appetite playing.

Meh. Open Google Maps (the app responsible for all of these notifications). Go to settings > notifications > your contributions. Turn off everything. Done. It's just one app being a bit too nosy. Nothing like the OS that tried to silently re-enable the privacy settings I turned off in an update.

The article seemed to mention that they took this step and the notifications seemed to migrate to google search. I dont use android and may have misunderstood but that behavior wouldnt surprise me and I suspect either way the information is being logged.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#309

Post by emmelaich »

saulrh wrote: post #42

I'm going to be completely honest here: If these things were behind a configuration option and defaulted to off, I'd have gone into my phone and turned that option on. I want to leave reviews for restaurants as I'm walking out of them - it serves the common good and doing it immediately is better for memory. I want to remember to download offline maps when I'm about to go somewhere where I won't have coverage. My mem…

Yeah I don't get the problem.

I like to see other people's reviews so I like to provide some myself. Quid pro quo.

You can of course turn off this feature but then you're missing out on a lot of what Google can give you.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#310

Post by DrScump »

aiiane wrote: post #86
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, if they were behind a configuration option and defaulted to on, most people would be fine turning it off and forgetting about it. This seems to be about lack of control. It's good for developers to think carefully before they ship products that do things with no way of being told not to. EDIT: Welp. Apparently these settings exist. I don't understand the point of the blog post then. Why is it so upsetting, if y…

Maps app -> Settings -> Notifications -> Your Contributions (and uncheck boxes as desired). The controls exist.

When you know you will need directions, you can also look them up on desktop using generic origin/destination cities and emailing them to yourself on a non-Gmail email account.
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