# So...will this be a historical inflection point for Google? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 27, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808 "2012-01-27T02:23:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/1 "2012-01-27T02:23:21Z")
[http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115425-google-is-fubar](http://www.extremetech.com/computing/115425-google-is-fubar) Googles gonna wire ALLLL your stuf together into one über-profile…including work if your work uses googledocs. > [@](#): > > On March 1, Search will know the contents of your email and the videos you watch on YouTube. If you use Google Docs for work, Search will know which company you work for and which industry you work in. Via Google Reader, Search and YouTube will know what content you like to consume. And of course, the kicker: Google’s ad networks — AdSense, AdWords, DoubleClick — will have full access to all of your search and surf habits from every Google web service. I just wonder if I’ll be at work and get an ad there for an 18" DHIBJD? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/2 "2012-01-27T02:39:16Z")
Oh boy, the paranoia parade is gonna come out in full force now. At least they’re totally transparent about it and let you manage everything from the dashboard (showing you what data they have on you and even letting you delete it as well as setting preferences for how it can be collected). It’s a good thing we have companies like Facebook and Apple keepin’ it real, ya know? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/3 "2012-01-27T02:48:46Z")
Okay…We’ll just watch every aspect of your life…even when and where you crap…no big deal. I’m not a tinfoil hat kinda guy, but I think it’s getting out of hand. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/4 "2012-01-27T02:57:25Z")
WTF is a historical inflection point? I know history, I know inflection, I don’t know at what point they meet… ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/5 "2012-01-27T03:01:30Z")
Picture a line growing, growing, growing, then a kink…then it drops…think “Netflix’s popularity until they messed with their DVD+streaming pricing” ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/6 "2012-01-27T03:04:37Z")
It won’t be a problem for me since I don’t use any part of Google under anything resembling my real name and I refuse to give them a backup email address or telephone number like they’re always badgering me to do, but I don’t like that Google seems to be taking privacy issues so lightly these days. They’ve gotten all zuckerbergian about privacy, but at least they are pretty forthright about it, unlike FB. I think now would be the prime time for somebody to come up with the Next Big Search Engine so Google could go on and become another social networking revenue machine and the rest of us could just search for tortoise porn without having to deal with all this other crap. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/7 "2012-01-27T03:13:36Z")
The problem, as I see it, is that there are several HUGE organizations that have a LOT of information…and nothing keeping them doing the right things. And the problem, specifically, with google is that they have access to your search, your email, (soon) Google plus, your cellphone (if you have an Android), your documents, your calendar, SO much of your life is in the hands of one single entity. Remember how people went apeshit when they found out their iPhone kept track of wherever you go? This is about 20 times worse. ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/8 "2012-01-27T03:34:55Z")
But they already had all this information. They already have every email I’ve sent for the last 5 years on file, as well as other personal information, browsing habits, search history. It’s all on file already. They’re just putting it all into one pot. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/9 "2012-01-27T03:40:36Z")
And there’s nothing keeping them from misusing it. Just this week the courts ruled the police/FBI must have a search warrant to hang a GPS tracker off your car. Google has one helluva GPS tracker, and no legal guides to protect your habits. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/10 "2012-01-27T03:41:16Z")
(To quote myself from a post in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=639691) that veered off into this topic): Have you people who are weary of Google’s privacy policies actually read them and availed yourselves of the rather straightforward [Google Dashboard](https://www.google.com/dashboard/?hl=en), [Ad Preferences Manager](https://www.google.com/settings/ads/?hl=en), and their [other extensive privacy tools](https://www.google.com/privacy/tools.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/11 "2012-01-27T19:21:47Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > (To quote myself from a post in [another thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=639691) that veered off into this topic): > > Have you people who are weary of Google’s privacy policies actually read them and availed yourselves of the rather straightforward [Google Dashboard](https://www.google.com/dashboard/?hl=en), [Ad Preferences Manager](https://www.google.com/settings/ads/?hl=en), and their [other extensive privacy tools](https://www.google.com/privacy/tools.html)? Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see there how I can opt out of them tying my search data to my google account, without me having to log out of my account if I want to use google search. I use several google services for the same hobby/small business. I don’t personally mind if data gets shared across all of those. My personal searches however I’m not thrilled to have linked. I see a new search engine in my future. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/12 "2012-01-27T19:27:26Z")
> [@Sam\_I\_Am](#): > > Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see there how I can opt out of them tying my search data to my google account, without me having to log out of my account if I want to use google search. > > I use several google services for the same hobby/small business. I don’t personally mind if data gets shared across all of those. My personal searches however I’m not thrilled to have linked. > > I see a new search engine in my future. You go to [www.google.com/history](http://www.google.com/history) and “pause” web history. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_I\_Am](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@Sam\_I\_Am](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_I_Am)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/13 "2012-01-27T19:30:20Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > You go to [www.google.com/history](http://www.google.com/history) and “pause” web history. That means that google won’t “improve my search experience”, but it doesn’t stop them from collecting and using it > [@](#): > > What happens when I pause the service, remove items, or delete the Web History service? > > You can choose to stop storing your web activity in Web History either temporarily or permanently, or remove items, as described in Web History Help. If you remove items, they will be removed from the service and will not be used to improve your search experience. As is common practice in the industry, Google also maintains a separate logs system for auditing purposes and to help us improve the quality of our services for users. For example, we use this information to audit our ads systems, understand which features are most popular to users, improve the quality of our search results, and help us combat vulnerabilities such as denial of service attacks. from here [http://www.google.com/history/privacyfaq.html?hl=en](http://www.google.com/history/privacyfaq.html?hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/14 "2012-01-27T19:39:51Z")
What exactly do you think they’re “using” it for that is so bad? All search engines collect information on what searches are being performed. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/15 "2012-01-27T19:43:32Z")
The problem is compartmentalization. I know of no Business entity with any kind of sensitive information that would be happy with linking the public and private lives of the people working with that sensitive information. And if that’s the case, anyone with military clearance will have an awful sticky time making sure their Android phone is clean. ETA: the big issue is one of opt-out…I can manually go to all these sites and change settings, or I can fucking leave. That’s two of the three options (third being: ignore it, it can’t POSSIBLY be a bad thing with unintended consequences.) It’s very Facebookian. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/16 "2012-01-27T22:43:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Google’s ad networks — AdSense, AdWords, DoubleClick — will have full access to all of your search and surf habits from every Google web service Even if you opted out of their ad-tailoring service? I did that the other day, which I’m kinda hoping will protect me. ---
**Author:** ![Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Marconi\_N.Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marconi_N.Cheese)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/17 "2012-01-27T23:42:40Z")
“Local storage We may collect and store information (including personal information) locally on your device using mechanisms such as browser web storage (including HTML 5) and application data caches.” [https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/preview/](https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/preview/) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/18 "2012-01-28T08:42:02Z")
Is this new? They’ve updated their Privacy Policy, but I’ve _always_ assumed Google combined all of my information. Why wouldn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/19 "2012-01-28T14:50:51Z")
So here’s an interesting wrinkle: their Governemnt cloud services effort is immune. It will not be considered in the consolidation of data. I wonder if they’ll extend that consideration to other businesses? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808/20 "2012-01-28T16:13:25Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > So here’s an interesting wrinkle: their Governemnt cloud services effort is immune. It will not be considered in the consolidation of data. I wonder if they’ll extend that consideration to other businesses? Seems like anyone who uses the paid-for Apps are excluded from this, as the privacy stuff is covered under an individual contract: > **[New Google privacy policy won’t affect Apps for business, government](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/01/new-google-privacy-policy-wont-affect-apps-for-business-government/)** > > Paying for Google services? Your contract may well give you greater privacy … [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-will-this-be-a-historical-inflection-point-for-google/610808.md?page=2)