Cartoon: Google Knows All and Sees All
Written by Rob Cottingham / February 9, 2009 2:00 PM
/ 8 Comments
Google Latitude is out, giving your friends the ability to tell where you are (or at least where your mobile phone is) 24/7. You can, of course, opt out in whole or in part - updating your location manually, or concealing it altogether. Which should prevent certain awkward conversations ("If that's my mother, tell her I'm not here!")... but maybe at the expense of triggering others ("Exactly why weren't you on Latitude tonight while you were 'working late'?").
If nothing else, Latitude gets us one step closer to a truly negative answer to the question "Google... is there anything they don't know?"
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Big Brother is watching you!!
This is all FUD. Why is everyone up in arms over their privacy because THEY now have a tool that allows THEM to tell a SPECIFIC peron or group of people where they are? Or NOT? Not using Google Lattitude is the same as not having Google Lattitude.
10 years ago our mobile phones in Australia showed where we were via transmission towers around at the time.
That was scary then, even before the Google intrusion into our internet habits & Credit Card paper trails of what we buy etc.
Now our personal tracking devices(our mobile phones) are truly that!
Mary
"Google... is there anything they don't know?"
They don´t know not to do/try everything.
Almost every week they push into new areas and it´s only a matter of time, when they´ll push into your area - i´m talking about business. And even when you do a non-business they try to compete and make money. Wikipedia -> Knol.
I think, when you work on a startup, you need passion for what you do and also someone to hate - like Apple and Google hate Microsoft, Facebook hates Myspace and so on.
I always focus on my competition and boy do i dislike Microsoft.
In the course of time, my feelings about Google changed.
First i loved Google. Then i became skeptical and with every year i more and more disliked Google.
This Longitude thing really is the tipping point for me.
Now i really don´t think about competitors anymore - nor do i care about Microsoft.
There´s just one thing left. Hatred torwards Google.
But maybe it´s a good thing. If you watched Nixon/Frost recently, you maybe remember that Frost wasn´t in a good position until the phone call from Nixon one night totally changed Frost.
He really excelled himself. I think the reason was anger.
I´m feeling that as well. Thank you Google and go to hell! :p
I actually think Google has done a better-than-usual job of giving people control here. What does cost me a little sleep is the thought of how each of these tools comes with a certain degree of social pressure to stay connected to the hive mind.
The same way the Blackberry has raised expectations that your workplace can always reach you by email, and that people are shocked if you're not answering your cell phone, I won't be surprised if you start getting a little "So what are you hiding?" curiosity if you switch off Latitude for a few hours.
Google, could you do us all a favor and remember your company motto in all you do:
DON'T BE EVIL.
I think this cartoon captures the issue perfectly. The features that some find creepy in their implementation are also incredibly valuable. The real question is whether each individual is willing to give up that level of information in return for the service. We each perceive different levels of value in our own privacy and in services like Latitude. As long Google and others provide consumers with the information they need to make informed decisions, we can choose alternative options if we are uncomfortable with giving up that much information.
I recently wrote something about this in response to Boston Globe op-ed.
http://blog.actonline.org/2009/02/the-googley-eyed-monsterisnt-it-awesome.html
I agreed with Young Che until, after awhile, I came to see that "Don't do evil" is far from "Do good". "Don't do evil" represents ethical neutrality, at best. Monetization is not evil.