Re: [gentoo-user] Google privacy changes

[Mick <michaelkintzios@gmail.com>]

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On Sunday 29 Jan 2012 19:12:17 Dale wrote:
> Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> > Hi,
> > 
> > have you read googles privacy changes yourself?
> > 
> > I just did - and there is nothing new or unusual.
> 
> I read some more on it but I'm thinking about what will be coming next.
>  It seems when a company goes public like Google did a while back,
> facebook is about too, they go downhill a bit privacy wise and it is
> like rolling down a hill.  It takes a while but it happens.
> 
> Thing about me having fastmail or something, it is me voting with my
> money, not me leaving with no vote against someone else's money.  Right
> now, google is only worried about the money from ads which is something
> I can't control.  If fastmail tries this, when I leave it is my money
> they lose.  Fastmail will think about me not some ad that may or may not
> be coming.  Since I will be a paying customer, I won't have any ads
> anyway.
> 
> I am looking into Yandex too.  Are they Russian or something?  I'm kind
> of leaning towards them for a couple reasons but trying to figure them
> out.  I'm trying to do this slow and with a deeper knowledge this time
> so I don't have to go through this again later on.
> 
> Plus, I just don't like being tracked all over the place anyway.  We
> have a big enough brother already.

As far as I can tell all that is changing with Google is they are going to 
join up in terms of user authentication, hitherto separate portals or apps 
they had.  I do not see a material difference to what is there now.

Fastmail, Google, Yahoo!, Yandex, et al, are all public ISPs and are making 
their money one way or another.  It is in their benefit to respect users 
privacy, but don't for a minute think that your info while in their systems 
can be deemed as private.  Unless you use encryption they can probe it, 
analyse it, read it, categorise it, etc.  Whether it is Google ads bureau, or 
CIA, or FSB, there is not much of a difference between them as far as the 
privacy of your data is concerned.

I think that you are worrying yourself unnecessarily, although there is no 
harm in being cautious all the same.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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