My friends at Google: it is time to return to not being evil

spytrdr

@spytrdr: happened to AmericaOnline/AOL too. Fashions change very fast, and when the flock moves elsewhere from the already VERY unfashionable Facebook, let's see what happens with its ad business.

mossman

@spytrdr I don't touch Facebook at all for those same reasons. I also agree about Alexa - spent some time over Christmas with friends who have both Alexa and Google Home... and I really was NOT impressed despite all their attempts to show how great they are. Aside from the privacy question, it takes more effort to get something done with them than just flicking a light switch or using your phone. Total waste of time!

jackyan

Jon, I just re-read this again after a year and a half when I linked a friend to it. I can tell you about Google "coincidences" over the last 10 years, and yes, they are this petty. And in the tech world, I'm a nobody.

jackyan

@gwen-dragon: I agree Google shows you what is relevant for them. Remember the Google Ads Preferences Manager of 2009? Google claimed for two years that you could use it to opt out of targeted advertising. I was suspicious of this claim in 2011 and began investigating. Reality: you could opt out for about a day. If you hit a Google property during that day, Google would replace the opt-out cookie with a new one to track you. Because they are everywhere on the internet, no opt-out cookie lasted more than 24 hours, even if the original one set its expiry decades into the future. Google can't claim that this wasn't by design, as every other member of the NAI was able to engineer cookies that lasted. After getting exposed by me to the NAI, they were forced to change this. There are many other examples of Google doing what's right for Google, and screw whatever settings we put in.

Pesala

Liberal Professor Warns: Google Manipulating Voters 'on a Massive Scale'

Dr. Robert Epstein told Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Tuesday that Google can manipulate votes by using tools that they have at their disposal exclusively, and that no one can counteract them. Epstein warned the senator of big tech election meddling during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on "Google and Censorship through Search Engines" on Tuesday.

Pesala

Google Gains Access to Patient Data, but does not need to inform them.

Google has gained access to a huge trove of US patient data - without the need to notify those patients - thanks to a deal with a major health firm.

The scheme, dubbed Project Nightingale, was agreed with Ascension, which hopes to develop artificial intelligence tools for doctors.

Google can access health records, names and addresses without telling patients, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news.

LonM

@Pesala They also had some deal to access NHS data in the past.

I am sure there are some researchers at google are passionate about health matters, but given that kind of data sharing gives an massive corporation unfettered access to lots of metadata - the potential negatives ought-weigh the potential benefits.

npro

So.... what's in the news today?

The US Department of Justice has launched its long-awaited antitrust action against Google, accusing the tech giant of unlawfully protecting its search monopoly through “anti-competitive and exclusionary practices.”

Funny -but beyond piteous- fact:

Mozilla's stance: Kick Google all you like, Mozilla tells US government, so long as we keep getting our Google-bucks

"Small and independent companies such as Mozilla thrive by innovating, disrupting and providing users with industry leading features and services in areas like search. The ultimate outcomes of an antitrust lawsuit should not cause collateral damage to the very organizations—like Mozilla—best positioned to drive competition and protect the interests of consumers on the web"

Google's talking:

"Today’s lawsuit by the Department of Justice is deeply flawed," he opined. "People use Google because they choose to, not because they're forced to, or because they can't find alternatives. "This lawsuit would do nothing to help consumers. To the contrary, it would artificially prop up lower-quality search alternatives, raise phone prices, and make it harder for people to get the search services they want to use."

-> Just like hearing Micro$oft talking, the one they were accusing so badly in the late 90's

Disgraceful.

Priest72

@Gwen-Dragon Just look at the annual salary of miss baker.
I am damned if i can see how that salary can be justified and then 250 mozilla employees are cut because of a cash shortage.
something wrong there for sure.

Namal

@Cqoicebordel It is not them per se. It is the conglomerate of politicians and influencers.

rosewell72

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devielthan

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Eggcorn

If Kenny Kimberly is to be believed: Google found another way to be evil back in 2020. Here's an excerpt from his article "YouTube Has Sent Out An Updated Terms Of Service, Concerning Many Users Of The Tech Giant":

A brief recap so far; a YouTube streamer/personality asked his users to spam an emote on YouTube’s service. YouTube then deactivated their entire Google accounts, meaning that people can’t use their email, calendars, Google Drive, Google docs, or upload videos to their channel. There have been complaints of some users falling into legal trouble being unable to access their passwords, and school trouble being unable to email their professors. Everything removed, for hundreds of people, because of a standard streaming chat tradition.

mossman

@Eggcorn said in My friends at Google: it is time to return to not being evil:

If Kenny Kimberly is to be believed: Google found another way to be evil back in 2020. Here's an excerpt from his article "YouTube Has Sent Out An Updated Terms Of Service, Concerning Many Users Of The Tech Giant":

A brief recap so far; a YouTube streamer/personality asked his users to spam an emote on YouTube’s service. YouTube then deactivated their entire Google accounts, meaning that people can’t use their email, calendars, Google Drive, Google docs, or upload videos to their channel. There have been complaints of some users falling into legal trouble being unable to access their passwords, and school trouble being unable to email their professors. Everything removed, for hundreds of people, because of a standard streaming chat tradition.

Keep your own backup and never leave things in the cloud if you can help it...