Google is doing more than watching you

[foxy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/te...techupdateema1

They're really getting scary.

[jerryctx]

Why is it scary? The LANS should have been secured if the info was confidential. I find the German government's actions more threatening than Google's.

Edit - Big Brother is alive and well and now known as the European Union.

Edit2 - If you tacked your Social Security card to your front door would you be surprised if people recorded the number? Of course not. If info is exposed in the real world or the virtual world, people will take advantage.

[foxy]

Given that a LAN should be secured. But if they're making photos for Street View, why are they storing e-mail messages, as stated in the second paragraph? But I think Germany should ascertain that they destroy it, not hand it over for further snooping.

[jerryctx]

why are they storing e-mail messages

They said it was a programming error but your concern is reasonable. I think I overstated my feelings but the EU (and most European national governments) is a bit of a hot button with me. They want to regulate everything. Until 1993 the French had a list of names you could name your children!

[foxy]

Don't know much about the EU, but I just see this as one more step toward Google's storing and knowing everything.

http://www.scroogle.org/gifs/goognyt.gif

[foxy]

Do you feel better now that the US is in the act?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/20/bu...html?th&emc=th

What is there about taking photos that got confused with stealing private data? Why has Google kept the data for several years?

If I unwittingly got on someone else's network, I would get off fast, and be embarrassed if I had seen anything on their computers. I would quickly forget anything I saw.

Which reminds me, remember the post about the woman who called a radio PC show, complaining that she could no longer steal bandwidth from her neighbor's network? I think Google could use her.

And a corollary to that--I had a client whose son used a wired network which I had set up. One day Mr. X sat down with me and complained he could no longer access the network, which had been working till recently, on his laptop. "But you don't have a wireless network," I replied.

[jerryctx]

Do you feel better now that the US is in the act?

No, Google can steal my data. The government can put me in jail (and steal my data).

All of your points are valid. A little paranoia is a good thing. I just consider governments more dangerous than private persons or organizations.

[Dude111]

I think google teamed up with Microsoft,I THINK THATS WHY THEY HAVE TURNED ON EVERYONE....

[foxy]

Uhhh....

[jerryctx]

I said:

A little paranoia is a good thing

[foxy]

Follow-up:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news...oogle.Privacy/

30 countries. Still think the EU is pushy?

[jerryctx]

Yes - My signature sums up my opinion.

[foxy]

You sound like an overaged hippie or an anarchist. Imagine the Wild West show on the internet if there were NO privacy rules and laws. Far from perfect now, but better than nothing. So you think the US should have done nothing in this case, just let Google do whatever it pleases?

[jerryctx]

What law did Google break? None that I'm aware of (in the US, don't know about the EU).

Who suffered from their actions? How?

Security is always a compromise between freedom and safety. Since perfect safety is impossible and high safety is usually impractical, let's err on the side of freedom.

[foxy]

US law regarding internet and technologyy, as I said, is faulty and outdated. Some of the laws date back over 10 or 12 years. G is being investigated to see if it did break some law, and maybe it didn't.

How about ethics? Should we do all sorts of unethical things because they're not unlawful? I wouldn't want to be married to you or work for you .