Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
Summary
Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Fox Business last week that "we're trying not to cross what we call the creepy line" when it comes to the data it gathers.
Topics
CEO Eric Schmidt told Fox Business last week that "we're trying not to cross what we call the creepy line" when it comes to the data it gathers. As an example, Schmidt said Google only publishes satellite data that is a month old, indicating that Google would consider it creepy to publish real-time satellite data.
Google is quite used to facing charges that it has become a little too Big Brotherish in its conquest of the Internet search market. In response, it emphasizes that Google users have control over the data the company collects on them, most recently introducing Google Dashboard as a way of letting users see all the personal data the company has assembled in a single Web page.
That will likely never be enough to satisfy the hardcore privacy advocates of the world, but the general public--and the government--are also starting to get a little uneasy about Google's unparalleled reach across the Internet.
For more, see "Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'" on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 15 Talkback(s)
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unlike M$ Google is open
Google is transparent and does not cross the criminal line.
Linux Geek9th Nov 2009 -
That you know of. I, on the otherhand
know that they have crossed that criminal line many a time.
You see, the best criminals are the ones that steal from you right in front of your face, and Google is amoung the best....
GuidingLight9th Nov 2009 -
Very scary, but...
how about some details? You make a serious (and very interesting and intriguing) statement without any backup. With a promise that I'm not baiting you - I'd love to hear more. Google's power does concern me.
(As a side note, any time I've ever googled myself I was very comfortable with the results.)
ken@...9th Nov 2009 -
T1Oracle9th Nov 2009 -
NOT trolling!
No, I was NOT trolling. Is it unreasonable to ask for evidence or at least further explanation? If you read my entire email you'd see that my message was completely sincere. I have better things to do with my time than troll, believe me.
-Kenken@...11th Nov 2009 -
RE: Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
google crossed that line several squares back
hearse trax9th Nov 2009 -
Be truthful when discussing a company that is supposed to be harmless.
Without facts and a victim, I must say they have not
committed any crime. Please elaborate, or are you just
trying to press some buttons?
dcmorrow9th Nov 2009 -
Google - world's biggest spyware company
Let's face it. It is the basis of Google's existance to collect information about its users. This means that they have the biggest database on the most people of anybody in the world. Perhaps they mean well, but it is too much to ask to trust such a company. Anybody that does will live to regret it.
jorjitop9th Nov 2009 -
What Information
I have been using Google for a long time now and my
experience with Google is that they are not attempting to
collect what can be termed personal/privacy information.
Such as "who you are." "where you reside" etc. Google's
real interest are your preferences as in "what are you
interested in". In other words when you open up your
browser it can be customized in a way that you find
agreeable/enjoyable. The collecting of that information
does bug some people, personally I don't care as long as
they don't know my identity.
Now MS on the other hand was collecting information that
could identify "who you are" such as hardware serial
numbers, software license codes, IP numbers etc. etc.
bigpicture9th Nov 2009 -
Really?
Think again. Google is the most insidious data gatherer of your personal data EVER.... Nobody else is even close. Go ahesd and run Picasa.. Heheheh. It is the electronic version of a warrantless search of your hard drive.
Woned B. Fooldagan10th Nov 2009 -
re: Really?
I don't know about that. Picasa won't get anything very interesting from *my* computer, especially if it concentrates on my photos.
It would be really easy to determine if Picasa is reporting hard drive info back to Google. If it were then we'd all know about it already.ken@...11th Nov 2009 -
RE: Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
I neither know nor care about the creepy thing, but Google crossed the 'creep' thing when they played footsy with the Red Chinese government. I changed to Bing and will never use Google regularly again.
iouzero9th Nov 2009 -
RE: Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
"we're trying not to cross what we call the creepy line"
Too Late!!!!
ICUR129th Nov 2009 -
RE: Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
You're right, I don't trust them just on principle. I don't need to see that they're "evil", I just need to realize that nobody has a truly secure network to worry about where my data might end up. Even if there's no security breach there's always a secret court order that allows the government to go on a snipe hunt for bad guys, real or imagined.
-Kenken@...11th Nov 2009 -
RE: Google trying not to cross 'the creepy line'
My apologies, I now realize that you accused "GuidingLight" of trolling, not me. Sure, I can see that and I'm sorry I bit. At least he didn't suck me into a flame war
ken@...11th Nov 2009
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