Google. Evil? Interesting Question.
June 21, 2012
Here’s an interesting take on Google’s role in the information ecosystem: eWeek explains that “Google, the Ultimate Private Intelligence Agency, Is Raising EU’s Ire.” Comparing Google’s info gathering tactics to those of government intelligence agencies, the article reveals that European Union investigators are concerned about users’ privacy. Writer Wayne Rash asserts that, unlike the FCC, Europe’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés “has some actual teeth,” so Google may have cause for concern. The article explains:
“The matter was made worse when Google defied the request of the EU government to delay the implementation of its privacy policy until it could confirm that Google was in compliance with European laws. Google simply went ahead and did what it wanted.
“It’s worth noting that the privacy rules in the EU are quite a bit different from those in the U.S. A private company simply cannot share personal information with anyone. They cannot collect information without specific permission, and personal information cannot be held or transmitted beyond the borders of the EU.”
To continue and heighten the sky-is-falling theme, popular among pundits and poobahs, AlterNet describes “The Terrifying Ways Google Is Destroying Your Privacy.” You can’t go wrong with predictions of doom, right? This piece by David Rosen declares:
“Through the spectacle of post-modern capitalism, the private has become public, the property of the corporation that owns your keystrokes. The digital revolution has morphed the personal into an electronic commodity; the electronic commodity is the exchange currency of an encroaching, 21st-centurydigital feudalism.”
Feudalism, huh? Perhaps that means we can look forward to the return of knights in shining armor and dragons, too. I can’t wait!
Cynthia Murrell, June 21, 2012
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