Google and the Privacy Dilemma

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Google and the Privacy Dilemma

By Brad Shorr | August 16, 2007

More and more, people are coming to fear Google. Is Google a success story for the ages, or the new kids on the block who turned into Big Brother?

The issue is privacy. Google collects our private data and tracks our movements online and off. Are they out to help us or exploit us? Stuart Brown sees Google’s massive buildup of personal data as a potential problem more than an immediate one. If Google becomes too powerful, they might feel free to use our private information in ways we wouldn’t want them to.

Other Google watchers aren’t willing to take a wait-and-see attitude. Ha.ckers has this to say–

While Google is an innovative company in some respects, I don’t trust the motives of an advertising company. Are they any better or worse than the others? There’s probably no way to know for sure, but at least the others are forthcoming.

Though I agree with that statement, I wouldn’t single out advertising companies as a target of skepticism. There’s always the potential for manipulation and exploitation–on both sides of the table–whenever any kind of deal is being struck.

Whatever Google’s motives, I think that we, not Google, have created this information-hording, search engine monster. We’re the ones demanding smarter, faster search. If Google doesn’t deliver, someone else will. We’re the ones voluntarily offering up all kinds of personal information on social networking sites like FaceBook that are far from privacy-secure. Can we blame Google for participating in the Web environment we’ve created? I don’t think so.

Do we want privacy, or unfettered, uncontrolled access to information? That’s the dilemma–most of us want both, but they don’t go together. We can’t depend on the good will of corporations who say, “trust us.” Technology might come to the rescue, but then again, it might not. For example, The Google Scraper offers protection now–but how long until the next counter-innovation makes it obsolete?

Rather than keep our fingers crossed that Google will play nice, or wait for the government to step in and make the problem worse, maybe we should take responsibility where we can. As consumers, we need to be more privacy minded. Privacy is important to everyone, but many of us are oblivious to the risks and our own exposure. The best way to make Google (or any other company) a good corporate citizen is to let them know they’ll lose business if they aren’t. As things stand, Google looks like the 800-pound gorilla. I don’t think they’re feeling any pain–should we be concerned?

NOTE …

This post was inspired by Joanna Young’s fabulous links post, and is part of the latest Liz Strauss Writing Challenge.

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4 Responses to “Google and the Privacy Dilemma”

Joanna Young Says:
August 16th, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Brad, thanks for exploring such an interesting topic. I’m afraid I don’t know too much about the issues - which probably means I’m one of the many who should start taking more responsibility for my on-line privacy. In any event, I shall forever associate this issue in the future with this picture of the 800 pound gorilla!

Joanna
Brad Shorr Says:
August 17th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Hi Joanna, You aren’t alone–I didn’t have a clue about privacy until I started working with a privacy protection client. The more you learn, the scarier it gets.
The Famous Joanna Thematic Link Posts Back to Challenge Me! - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. Says:
August 24th, 2007 at 7:43 am
[…] Google and the Privacy Dilemma by Brad […]
Liz’s Thematic Links Story: Lorelle’s Blogging Birthday Quest - Liz Strauss at Successful Blog - Thinking, writing, business ideas . . . You’re only a stranger once. Says:
August 30th, 2007 at 9:01 am
[…] then . . . ” Chris said, thoughtfully. “Frankly Lorelle, I worry about Google and the Privacy Dilemma. We shouldn’t be in the lighthouse alone. Maybe you should go out to […]