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2/17/2012
05:15 PM

Thomas Claburn
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Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

If we really wanted privacy, we would turn o JavaScript, block ads, and

browse in privacy mode through an anonymous proxy. But we would rather
have free services.
John Battelle, who runs advertising company Federated Media and has written about
Google for years, suggests as much in a thoughtful blog post. "Might it be possible that
Apple is using data as its weapon, dressed up in the PR friendly clothing of 'privacy
protection' for users?" he asks.
Indeed, it's possible.
But Apple is too clever to be caught taking direct action to hinder its competition without
plausible deniability. The company has recognized that justifying its actions by claiming
security, privacy, or user experience benets will make almost any change acceptable.
Apple's refusal to support Flash on iOS devices represents an example of this. Its claims
about security and performance issues aecting Flash on mobile devices were fair
enough. But by shunning Flash, Apple achieved a business benet: It crippled a
competing development platform.
Apple's Gatekeeper in its forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion oers another example.
Apple's next Mac operating system will block the installation of apps from third-party
developers without an Apple Developer ID by default. This is perfectly justiable on the
grounds of security (even if it undermines Apple's previous assertions that malware isn't
a problem on the Mac). But it will also serve to reinforce Apple's control of the OS X
software sales channel.

Apple's decision to block third-party cookies by default has extra cover: The RFCs that
dene how browsers should handle cookies indicate that third-party cookies should be
blocked by default. The major browser makers have not followed this recommendation,
choosing instead to rely on P3P, an automated mechanism for communicating privacy
preferences that's generally seen as a compromise between privacy ideals and business
needs.
If we accept Google's explanation that this was an accident at face value, and assume that
Apple too is blameless and only wants the best for its users, what are we left with? Is the
Wall Street Journal too hard on Google because its owner, Rupert Murdoch, thinks Google
steals content, and perhaps goes easy on Apple to secure better access to exclusives? Are
consumer advocacy groups focused on Google because Google bashing makes headlines,
which help with fundraising?
No, let's put the blame where it belongs, on us, the users of the Internet. We rely on free
services like Gmail while insisting on "privacy," a term that we probably can't even dene
to our collective satisfaction. We accept terms of service contracts and privacy policies
that explain in excessive detail how we will not get privacy, how our information will be
used, and then we object.
So instead of privacy, let's talk about control. You do have some of that, still. Make some
choices about how your information will be used--because it will be used--instead of
accepting default settings.
If you object to the way Google does business, use ad-blocking software. This is what the
Electronic Frontier Foundation recommends, at least until Google implements Do Not
Track in Chrome. Perhaps everyone will follow this advice, Google will collapse, and then
we can all just go back to fee-for-service computing. How does a $0.25 per search and
$99 for an Android 5.0 upgrade sound?
Here's to hoping that Google oers a paid membership option that disables all
information collection and advertising across all its services. Then we will nally be able
to see what the absence of privacy is worth.

As enterprises ramp up cloud adoption, service-level agreements play a major role in

ensuring quality enterprise application performance. Follow our four-step process to
ensure providers live up to their end of the deal. It's all in our Cloud SLA report. (Free
registration required.)

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Comments

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ProsecondA338,
User Rank: Apprentice
9/8/2014 | 10:47:39 PM

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Google invading our privacy

Burn these CEO's to the ground already people! Including the Gates. Time to shut this
new world disorder down for good.
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Tom LaSusa,
User Rank: Apprentice
7/12/2012 | 3:32:39 PM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

Folks,
A friendly reminder that you are encouraged to be as vocal and opinionated as you
want to be, so long as you do so in a respectful manner. Insulting/derogatory/oensive
language will not be tolerated. Usage of such dialogue can result in your comment
being edited or removed -- and potentially having your prole blocked.
Thanks
Tom LaSusa
Community Manager
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duke,

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User Rank: Apprentice

7/12/2012 | 12:21:39 PM

50%50%

re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

Thomas Claburn is a douchebag. His "blame the victim" mentality is appalling and
insulting. Giving away something for free does not allow ANYBODY, let alone a
juggernaut like Google to invade OUR privacy. He also blames the victim for accepting
TOS contracts (ne print), which are usually written in gobbledygook or in a way that
most laymen would not understand. Using Tom Claburn's logic, that would actually be
the consumers' fault for being retarded (basically what Claburn thinks of everybody)
and not the company's fault for invading your privacy. To give an example of what
Claburn is trying to say, if you were to use the telephone and it happened to be
tapped, it would be YOUR fault for using it and not the telephone
companies/government's fault. He also mentions in the article that there is not a clear
consensus on what the denition of privacy is. How convenient! If the word privacy
doesn't even mean anything, then how can you invade it? Funny, after a quick scan of
the dictionary, privacy is dened as such: "being free from being observed". Now, that
seems like a denition that we all can accept "to our collective satisfaction". Again and
not surprisingly, Claburn uses an illogical argument to justify an invasion of privacy.
Last, but not least, Claburn implies that Google's privacy invasion is necessary for the
consumer to keep getting free Google. Sorry, but privacy does not cost money - it is a
fundamental human right (unless you are a tyrant). Claburn uses the black and white
argument that it's either no privacy and free Google, or privacy and no free Google. If
that were true, it doesn't change the fact that Google is invading YOUR privacy to
make a quick buck (and who knows what else they're up to) when they could still
make billions of dollars doing things that don't require invading the consumers'
privacy. Good to know that Claburn puts corporation above consumer.
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jdoncaster570,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/21/2012 | 5:39:18 PM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

Funny.. I have Do not track Plus on my browser and this information Week page shows
20 tracking devices (cookies) .. the highest I have seen on any one page... glass houses
and all...
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Michael_,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/20/2012 | 10:10:34 PM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

Who's fault is it that you have come to rely on Google for just about everything? It's
your own fault. "Google baited with a free service". You mean "I took advantage of a
free service and now I'm complaining they want to run it the way they want to run it".
It's called advertising and it's been around for quite a while now.
How many wealthy senior citizens do you think depend on Google's free services? Go
tell them they can't um-encumber themselves from Google's inuence. Get ready to be
laughed at and called a fool.
"Trying to get your old emails back that are archived on Google not so easy." Really?
How about taking two seconds to actually gure it out. http://lmgtfy.com
/?q=download+... Since you are too lazy to search on your own, I will help you out
even more, click on the very rst link.
Again, who's fault is it that you are ignorant or too lazy to gure out how to do
something or use the tools that you use? It took me all of less than a minute to nd out
how to do what you consider "not so easy". Is it Google's fault or the fault of anybody
else that you are ignorant or lazy? (I could have used any search engine to gure this
out btw). You just prove my point even more. People are either too lazy or ignorant to
gure out how to use the tools they use. It's not judgemental like DAGOSTA000 states,
it's pointing out the facts, big dierence.
Would you give your 16 old kid a new 100k Harley Davidson Motorcycle and tell him
to go use it when they don't know anything about driving a motorcycle? With your
logic, the kid should already know how to use/drive a motorcycle from the start, and if
he doesn't it's Harley Davidson's fault if anything bad happens huh?
"There's a sucker born every minute". Which category do you t in? Don't answer that,
I think we all know.
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TuleeGirl,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/20/2012 | 5:42:07 AM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

I hate being tracked by Google with their "above the rest" attitude. I thought they
were 'special' when it came to using users personal information. In the end it's every

man for him self. Which translates to every search engine will track you and keep
cookies stored on your computer so they can market products that you seem to be
interested in. Which is ne because I regularly delete them. I delete all the L.S.O.'s as
well. I think those are worse. If not for some research I wouldn't even know about the
L.S.O's. I've disabled my updates with Adobe so I won't have to worry about some new
technology development that I'll have to keep up with in order to maintain my privacy.
And I thought the Patriot Act was bad!
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Eschewing Obfuscation,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/20/2012 | 4:30:47 AM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

How about rather than hoping for Google to oer a paid membership option we hope
for transparent disclosure and honesty? Privacy hawks aside, Google's shareholders
have a right to accurate information regarding Google's solicitation, use of, and
strategies for gaining personal information. You can go back and forth about Safari
settings and Google opt-outs all day, but that's disingenuous. Yes, every aspect of 'free'
web services hinges on user data. But when a publicly traded company purports to be
above all of that and subscribe to the idea of 'don't be evil'', any failure to live up to
that standard is an ethical failure to live up to stockholder expectations.
In terms of whether or not people care about privacy, and where blame rightfully
belongs, the issue breaks in much the same way. If Google didn't make such a large
issue of their trustworthiness and adherence to privacy standards, then yes, average
internet users would be to blame for sacricing their own privacy. BUT Google
advertises itself as being above such shenanigans. This is not a 'blame the dumb
users, they don't know what they're doing' issue. This is a clear issue of bait and
switch. Google draws in users with promises of ethical behavior, responsible usage of
data, and respecting privacy. If it is not prepared to live up to those promises,
regardless of why, it should not make them; When it fails to live up to its own
promises, its users should rightfully throw a t and demand change.
Don't blame users for expecting companies to act as advertised. Blame companies for
making false promises.
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Johnnythegeek,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/20/2012 | 4:11:14 AM

re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

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Their are ways to access the web more privately. But most user I am sure do not take
advantage of it. We choose to demand free sites and in the end the devil is marketing
tracking cookies. Their are some sites I prefer have less ads such as Hotmail. I hate
those right side bar ads. So now I pay a little every year to make them go away. Their
are some free ways such as AdBlock and they work well. But for me the most annoying
was pop ups and almost any browser blocks those if you want. Otherwise I really do
not care so much about ads. Their are ads everywhere in life. So why should we think
the internet would be any dierent?
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Howt,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/19/2012 | 10:39:32 PM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

By my own choice, I have chosen to exchange personal data for Google services. That
is, when they are dealing o the top of the deck. In this instance, their errant actions
were purposeful and hopefully will be found to be criminal.
More concerning is that Google is taking the sole hit. Why no mention of the other
three advertising entities? Often, that which goes unspoken tells most.
For example, WPP is a holding company which owns many of the world's largest
advertising rms. Is InformationWeek holding them to account? Does
InformationWeek receive advertising revenue from WPP or its subsidiaries? Both
advertising and journalism need to adhere to ethical practices.
There's a lot of shame to go around here and InformationWeek itself remains in
question.
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Tom Mariner,
User Rank: Apprentice
2/19/2012 | 9:09:39 PM

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re: Google's Privacy Invasion: It's Your Fault

More than my fault -- I encourage it! I like it when I browse for something and
everything else I do for a while gives me suggestions on alternate products or where I
can get it for less! Yeah, I know , heresy in a world of ultraprivacy. Wait, it gets worse
-- in an age where a hospital can get ned $50,000 per name for even the hint of a
leak, I would rather have a health professional nd out everything that has happened
to me so they can help me get better faster. There, I've said it!

If I get these benets and the icing on the cake is that it lets me get all this great stu
on the Internet for free, get to the bad part. Granted, I am way beyond the age of
posting revealing pictures or text of stupid acts on a social site, but am worried that
our young are going to nd themselves denied something later because of youthful
indiscretion.
And here's a really bad part -- we elect our public ocials based not on how good they
would be at the job, but on who has done less stu we can nd out about. I'm not real
happy about he "National Enquirer" method of getting a President -- or Town
Supervisor, but Americans seem adverse to actually investigating, so maybe the
Internet watching those folks is not good for all of us.
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