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Google and Microsoft want your soul

For a company whose motto is "Don't be evil", Google is starting to look remarkably demonic. Or more Big Brother-like than the current surveillance society we live in in the UK -- and that's saying something.
Written by Tom Espiner, Contributor

For a company whose motto is "Don't be evil", Google is starting to look remarkably demonic. Or more Big Brother-like than the current surveillance society we live in in the UK -- and that's saying something.

In a speech reported in the Financial Times, Eric Schmidt, Google CEO said:

"We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation.

"The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?' "

Any organisation that gathers enough personal information on its users to be able to tell them what they should do the with their lives will be using technology in a very intrusive way. All so it can personalise ads, and maximise its ad revenues.

What about privacy? And more importantly, would you ask Google which job you should take? And would you take the answer seriously?

Users do have a choice of search engines and sites, but just how ubiquitous will Google become?

Microsoft's motto has never been "Don't be evil". The software giant is also developing privacy-busting tech, in the form of software that can identify an individual merely from their web-browsing habits.

The New Scientist says:

"The computing giant is developing software that could accurately guess your name, age, gender and potentially even your location, by analysing telltale patterns in your web browsing history."

Ok, everyone's got to make a buck, but honestly Microsoft and Google, is it worth infringing people's civil liberties to do so?

What's your opinion? Is Google evil? Is Microsoft?

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