Is Google evil?

Its not the money or gold or weapons,its who controls the information that controls the world.Mmmm makes you think!
 
Good article, nobody should really be uploading confidential information plaintext to a web server anyway though.
 
Very good article. I for one always store my personal and sensitive info in encrypted format locally as I have had my computer stolen before.

Not failsafe but a lot better than some public server.

However, for non sensitive info etc. google is great.
 
hrm.. wait till a google virtual drive for docs, pics, sheets, etc comes out.. then they'd have everything in one spot :eek: I like this article cause it shows how google stuff is actually being used and not just there for show
 
Well anyone stupid enough to relinquish control over confidential docs deserves whats coming to them. I use Google for junk email, searching and occasionally basic docs - i never store anything of value there.

The services they provide are free and this is paid for by advertising based on the content of your emails and searches etc - a simple solution to connecting advertisers to clients. Ingenious really.

I suspect articles like this arise from competitors bugged by the train that they missed.

Essentially Google i think aims to replace MS's desktop with a visit to their search engine.

Evil - Pah - Telkom is evil, PW was evil. Shell is evil. The L- user is at fault

Take bit of responsibility for your actions and stop blaming everyone else.
 
Oh boo-hoo. Personally I think that if you believe that the big bad information snoops on the intrawebnets are spending every waking hour out to get you, then you have a grossly inflated self image.
 
I don't believe google is evil. Any service only has as much power as you're willing to give it.

If you have confidential things and you keep them easily accessible on your computer then you're pretty much taking responsibility for whatever risk.
 
There's NO proof in that whole article that Google is even slightly evil other than the paranoia that seems to be spreading.

Does anyone remember how they fought the US Department of Security (or something or other), to stop them from getting google search results.

For someone to say google is something like microsoft is such a STUPID comment, and shows a complete lack of understanding of whats really happening out there.
 
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With power comes great responsibility and you can't deny the fact that they do have a lot of power. Another thing is that power in many cases corrupt, I'm sure you know this as we are in Africa of all places.

Now considering those fact I would still dismiss the above article, my reason being that Google is a business. If they screw up by giving away private information it's not going to go unnoticed. If they are seen by the users as a company that can't be trusted, the users will just go somewhere else, it's as easy as that. If they don't have users advertisers would have no reason to use their services. As a company they will what ever is in their power to prevent stuff like this happening, even if it means that they have to get a large team of lawyers to protect them. The cost of the lawyers will be well spent considering their huge income from all the advertising they get. Their aim is to get users to trust them as they know how easy it is to switch over to yahoo or any other company providing the same type of services.

They didn't get to where they are making all the wrong choices or doing things wrong. They got to where they are today from a great idea, lot's of hard work and making good choices. I doubt they are going to flush it all down the toilet at this stage.
 
DVDA said:
Oh boo-hoo. Personally I think that if you believe that the big bad information snoops on the intrawebnets are spending every waking hour out to get you, then you have a grossly inflated self image.
Click to expand...

About a month and a bit ago there was a posting of a supposedly random selection of aol search engine requests in a online db. It took New York Times reporters less than 3 days to track down the people who had made the searches and visit them at their houses. TWiT did a piece on it.
There are also regular requests from governments for search engine data that get fulfilled. In the states a search warrant/court order for basically any data can be got in the middle of the night for "homeland security" without the reasons being given to anyone but the special hand selected judge.

Most websites terms of use say they will roll-over the minute some-one with a badge knocks on their door.
 
BobJones said:
About a month and a bit ago there was a posting of a supposedly random selection of aol search engine requests in a online db. It took New York Times reporters less than 3 days to track down the people who had made the searches and visit them at their houses. TWiT did a piece on it.
There are also regular requests from governments for search engine data that get fulfilled. In the states a search warrant/court order for basically any data can be got in the middle of the night for "homeland security" without the reasons being given to anyone but the special hand selected judge.

Most websites terms of use say they will roll-over the minute some-one with a badge knocks on their door.
Click to expand...

Thats AOL, the same people who assisted the government in setting up spy stations. Google has gone to court to protect its customers information. They are NOT of the same cloth.

Just look who AOL is involved with and you can see a massive difference between google and aol.
 
Very interesting read. I wonder how many people here at work use Google servers for confidential work....
 
Good Article - I just think its severely daft to store any of your data online, That's why we have large hard drives, CDRW's, Memory Sticks etc.

At the end of the day, for those who wish to use online services as such, should know, if the data leaks or be used against you in some fashion - it will be your own doing for trusting someone else!.

Trust No-one!
 
Will this compromise your company? Probably not. It’s not in Google’s interest to undermine the privacy of its users. If people become fearful of Google — if they worry that the company is not protecting their privacy — they will switch to its rivals in an instant. Just one high-profile incident could inflict enormous and permanent damage on Google’s credibility. Comfort enough?
Click to expand...
Personally, I'm confident that my data is safe with Google, but I do have a truely random and long password with letters & numbers & symbols, and I don't even know my own password [Firefox remembers it for me :D].

Most non-IT people are really lax when it comes to passwords, there is cause for concern that an employee's GMail|Google account with an easy to guess [and infrequently changed] password, might be a weak point.
 
Next article: Do you trust your password with firefox , one flaw, everyone falls :)
 
Of course the downside of letting Firefox remember your passwords is that if anyone ever gets access to your PC you're screwed (since firefox has the option to reveal all passwords built in).

Just don't store confidential stuff online if you're concerned about it. I also trust Google and believe they'd fight to keep my things private.
 
A recent issue of MotherJones, a left-wing US magazine, alleges that, in September, Google handed over the records of some users of its social networking service, Orkut, to the Brazilian government, which was investigating alleged racist, homophobic and pornographic content.
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“The question is not whether Google will always do the right thing — it hasn’t, and it won’t,” MotherJones says
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If people become fearful of Google — if they worry that the company is not protecting their privacy — they will switch to its rivals in an instant. Just one high-profile incident could inflict enormous and permanent damage on Google’s credibility.
Click to expand...
MotherJones is lying (what does that tell you of MotherJones?) The Orkut case has been around for months (and is common knowledge on a basic search.)

The difference is: MS and Yahoo have already sold out and chinese bloggers are sitting in jail for their lack of intransigence.

Another smear campaign on google.

Off Slashdot:

"The AP reports that Google filed a motion in response to a Brazilian judge's deadline to turn over information on users of the company's social networking service Orkut. An earlier AP story gives the background: 'On Aug. 22, Federal Judge Jose Marcos Lunardelli gave Google's Brazilian affiliate until Sept. 28 to release information needed to identify individuals accused of using Orkut to spread child pornography and engage in hate speech against blacks, Jews and homosexuals. Google claims that its Brazilian affiliate cannot provide the information because all the data about Orkut users is stored outside Brazil at the company's U.S.-based headquarters. Google maintains that it is open to requests for information from foreign governments as long as the requests comply with U.S. laws and that they are issued within the country where the information is stored.'"
Eight million Brazilians, about a quarter of the country's Internet-using population, are members of Orkut.
 
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