The Guardian’s long read “Google’s Earth: how the tech giant is helping the state spy on us” highlights some of the company’s deals with government organizations like the CIA, NGA, and the military. Although the article does shed light on the commercial relationships between Google and the government, it doesn’t provide definitive evidence that the company directly trades user data. Nevertheless, individual privacy still remains a concern especially since peoples’ lives are increasingly being integrated to and dependent on the information highway that is the internet. Moreover, a company as expansive as Google tracks crucial bits of personal information like peoples’ geospatial and online activities, schedules, and contacts. This information may not necessarily be linked to specific people, but they certainly can provide demographic data about a population which can potentially be manipulated by organizations that aim to sway the public.
Moving forward in this digital world, it is imperative that people verify the businesses and services they place their trust on. In the 2000’s, numerous investors suffered losses from investments in a company called Theranos which promised a product that never came into existence. Now, however, the average person is the investor with their information, and not cash that is at stake. It is not a crisis, by any means, and I don’t mean to label corporations like Google as evil. Nonetheless, even today, cyberspace is murky waters and how it will evolve alongside people’s lives is relatively unclear. With the countless startups providing promising products whose applications prove valuable in today’s world, it is imperative that people are able to discern what exactly it is that they’re paying with.
- Kevin Gomes
I agree that Google is very shady in how it treats their user's information and data (which is a reason that my google account doesn't have my real name)
ReplyDeleteSadly, it is practically impossible to avoid google at this point. They are the only relevant search engine and own many different extremely popular websites such as YouTube (which they've kind of ruined), and how they've started overtaking Microsoft in the office/document creating services. They also own by far the largest email service in G-Mail. At our school, we are forced to have Google accounts and use its services, and they likely use/store our information.
Although it's impossible to avoid using sites like YouTube, I believe the best way to protest against Google is by using alternate services when we can, such as Ecosia as a search engine and Microsoft office or LibreOffice instead of Google docs.
Unfortunately, Google is a powerful company and we may never know what actually goes behind those walls with our data. It is the price that we do pay for something so useful and impactful. We use google every single day for either work, school, or just out and about. Google maps is a life saver when it comes to directions and the fastest route to somewhere. Personally, I am willing to exchange some my privacy for something so crucial like Google.
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