So true. Apple has discontinued an excellent router, with a devoted fanbase who enjoy what has to be the easiest setup and administration I've ever seen. And like all other discontinued products, support will end and eventually those routers will be compromised to uselessness. Thats how it goes. It doesn't negate the fact that Google has done far more to compromise privacy than anything I can think of from any other company. I don't think this means anything to you because every example you give frames your point of view as "privacy takes a back seat to security and both have to accommodate all the gee whiz gadgets we're convincing ourselves we need". My POV is "Privacy is the greatest concern, and proper security begins with privacy. BTW, think before you purchase something because generally you don't need what you're being convinced you need."
No NOT security over privacy. I simply have a clue and understand Google is giving us security AND privacy. Who dropped sites that did not encrypt from their search engine? You need to think for yourself and look at Google actions instead of hyperbole. It does help I have a strong engineering background and can understand things for myself. There is a difference between aggregate data and private data but you are blurring those lines from maybe ignorance? It is not clear to me but it does not matter as I can actually read the source code, do build, etc. Google gives you the source code! Apple does NOT.
Google places no value on privacy, just security. Unless you're a private shareholder at Google, in which case re-read that article from Cleland I posted above. You'll see that they run their company like a black box, with zero transparency. They flaunt SEC rules, are non-responsive to questions or they obfuscate, and when they're caught they downplay what they've done, ignore it, or sidestep.
You do NOT understand the technology so you are poorly informed, IMO. The type of technology Google is using is vastly different in that we do NOT know why it works. We can NOT write proofs. We have to do it and then see if it works. This aspect is being exploited by some to say "black box" or lack of transparency. It is triggered by ignorance. If you are interested and have some technical background I can explain how it works in more common terms. But would need you technical background and obviously you need to be motivated.
If you didn't read anything about "Google for Kids", aka "Google Apps For Education" - and many Google apologists either refuse to admit it happened or pretend its meaningless, even here - you should. Read more here.
This one is going to cause super hard push back on my part. First, I have eight kids. Yes all with the same wife. Hate that question. All are in school but one, my oldest. All schools are based on Google. Bet it my grade school kids, middle, high and even in multiple Universities. What Google has done for K-12 is unmatched by any company. Period! Our school is doing simply incredible things with data that would be impossible without Google. Reason is it would be too expensive and nobody has ever been willing to help the schools.
Do not know if you have kids but they perform radically differently depending on the teacher/student fit. Our school is generating the data and they are a pilot site for using analytics to improve this fit. I love this. I know, NOT simply believe, that you can make HUGE differences with kids matched up with the proper teacher.
Obviously Google has data on the kids. That I suspect bothers you a great deal. I simply just do not get it. On one hand we have the teacher kid matching finally being improved. On the other hand worse case is Google targets an ad towards a student? I say worse case as Google obviously is NOT suppose to be doing this and trust they will get there.
You will think I am crazy but with my tech background I can accept that Google has not had this correct in all cases and there were cases where the data did leak into their business. They are re-using technology and changing to be used so no data is used for targeting, believe it or not, takes work and sometimes you mess up. Did any kids die? Did a kid even get an ad? Did a kid get exposed to porn? I simply see the balance far differently then yourself. I see tons of upside and I really do NOT see the down side. But what is important I do respect your position and therefore you should chose to NOT use Google.
Google offered free apps and storage to schools across the country because they're oh-so-benevolent. The catch was the kids information was all gathered as part of a registration process. Name, age, address, and everything else the schools had on them. Then the usage of the apps, search and browsing history, and the rest of the many-layers-deep behavioral tracking Google does was applied to the kids and stored indefinitely. Some people realized this might be going on. Initial queries from people ranging from private citizens to LEOs to government officials were met with "we don't do that'. Further prompts including evidence that they do it were met with "we don't store that information". Finally, a real probe proved they did store the info. Google responded with "Our bad!" while they made a huge amount of noise about turning off scanning/analysis on Gmail for those kids. That amounts to a fraction of the analysis Google actually does on all users, so they effectively used a confirmation bias to help people convince themselves Google was being straightforward.
Here's a very dated article explaining what Google tracked... back in 2008. What Dover didn't realize at the time was that there are many layers of analysis that Google uses, on top of all that data they collect, and they have only become more sophisticated over time. Just as important as "who/what" are "when/why/where". Google reaches so far into its users' lives they can make extreme use of what time of day you perform your activities, they can compare it to other data on other facets in your life so they can make assumptions on what factors influence your decisions, and they can compare that to data from where you do these things. They're building profiles on people that are so detailed they are eventually going to know what you want before you want it. Failing that, they will influence you to want what you want when they want it. Their artificial intelligence project is going to be the basis for this. They will be able to model you in software and approach your model with information and see how it responds. This is absolutely terrifying for so many reasons and I don't have the rest of the day to explain it. Google wants to become "how".[/QUOTE]
So true. Apple has discontinued an excellent router, with a devoted fanbase who enjoy what has to be the easiest setup and administration I've ever seen. And like all other discontinued products, support will end and eventually those routers will be compromised to uselessness. Thats how it goes. It doesn't negate the fact that Google has done far more to compromise privacy than anything I can think of from any other company. I don't think this means anything to you because every example you give frames your point of view as "privacy takes a back seat to security and both have to accommodate all the gee whiz gadgets we're convincing ourselves we need". My POV is "Privacy is the greatest concern, and proper security begins with privacy. BTW, think before you purchase something because generally you don't need what you're being convinced you need."
Google places no value on privacy, just security. Unless you're a private shareholder at Google, in which case re-read that article from Cleland I posted above. You'll see that they run their company like a black box, with zero transparency. They flaunt SEC rules, are non-responsive to questions or they obfuscate, and when they're caught they downplay what they've done, ignore it, or sidestep.
If you didn't read anything about "Google for Kids", aka "Google Apps For Education" - and many Google apologists either refuse to admit it happened or pretend its meaningless, even here - you should. Read more here.
Google offered free apps and storage to schools across the country because they're oh-so-benevolent. The catch was the kids information was all gathered as part of a registration process. Name, age, address, and everything else the schools had on them. Then the usage of the apps, search and browsing history, and the rest of the many-layers-deep behavioral tracking Google does was applied to the kids and stored indefinitely. Some people realized this might be going on. Initial queries from people ranging from private citizens to LEOs to government officials were met with "we don't do that'. Further prompts including evidence that they do it were met with "we don't store that information". Finally, a real probe proved they did store the info. Google responded with "Our bad!" while they made a huge amount of noise about turning off scanning/analysis on Gmail for those kids. That amounts to a fraction of the analysis Google actually does on all users, so they effectively used a confirmation bias to help people convince themselves Google was being straightforward.
Here's a very dated article explaining what Google tracked... back in 2008. What Dover didn't realize at the time was that there are many layers of analysis that Google uses, on top of all that data they collect, and they have only become more sophisticated over time. Just as important as "who/what" are "when/why/where". Google reaches so far into its users' lives they can make extreme use of what time of day you perform your activities, they can compare it to other data on other facets in your life so they can make assumptions on what factors influence your decisions, and they can compare that to data from where you do these things. They're building profiles on people that are so detailed they are eventually going to know what you want before you want it. Failing that, they will influence you to want what you want when they want it. Their artificial intelligence project is going to be the basis for this. They will be able to model you in software and approach your model with information and see how it responds. This is absolutely terrifying for so many reasons and I don't have the rest of the day to explain it. Google wants to become "how".[/QUOTE]
One last point. I am fully aware of the data Google is collecting. They do NOT keep it secret. What other company invests into a dashboard so you can see it all and give you a delete button!
I can not end my cable service online and with a call it is a major hassle.
Google did NOT legally have to create the dashboard but they did. They did NOT legally have to give you a way to delete your info but they did.
Good business decision? Or the right thing to do?
I am FULLY aware of what Google is doing and I approve. My view is in our new world you will have to trust some company and my preference is to trust one and give them everything so not spread about and that company in my eyes is a super easy choice.
Google understands data, privacy, security far better than any other. But it is the fact they have the MOST on the line to get it correct. I look for motivations.
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