I always thought that Orwell's Big Brother concept was something to be aware of, and try to prevent as something that might happen, if we are unwary, in decades to come. How wrong I was. Do read this whole article - every word, and carefully.
Things have moved forward, or rather backward, at an alarming rate in just five years. I very much doubt that many of us know what this article has to say. Do read it.
What's to be done? The trend is in one sense fueled by technology. We can always abandon Google, use other search engines and email. But how many people really will? It's up to governments and Privacy Watchdogs to take a much stronger hand in this. Actually, the EU have done a small bit.
[COLOR="Blue"]Dr Ian Brown, senior research fellow at the University of Oxford's Internet Institute, says: 'I think people don't realise just how much personal information Google is collecting on them.
'They have been experimenting with all sorts of other stuff and they take the attitude that you're choosing to use their service and therefore they are going to store some information about what you are doing whether you like it or not.
'They don't give you the choice over whether they can accumulate information about what has been searched for from your computer.
'They have taken some steps in the last year - under pressure from European privacy regulators - to shorten the length of time that they are keeping information before it is anonymised. But I personally don't use their search engine for that reason.
The T-Mobile G1 phone has an operating system designed by Google
'They are collecting more information than I'm comfortable with. I wouldn't want them to know where I was going. I don't use Google Maps from my mobile phone. I think if more people realised just how much information was being stored, it might give them some pause for thought.'
They know your location to within two feet at any time. If that isn't Patrick McGoohan/ "Prisoner" stuff, I don't know what is. So what to do? And how many are alert or even care?
Edit to add: [COLOR="Blue"]One woman, fleeing a violent partner, was horrified when she found an image of herself on Street View, fearing that her ex would be able to ascertain her new home.
Another pair of male colleagues found themselves the subject of office ridicule when an image of themselves, apparently kissing one another, was identified on Street View, to the horror of their respective partners. The colleagues had, in fact, just been talking.
V
I read this too V. I do care - I am quite worried about it all :(. When I read 1984 as a teenager I didn't think it could ever happen - but how wrong I was. What to do - tbh I haven't a clue how to stop the juggernaut of intrusiveness into our everyday lives 😡 and I find it very frightening.
What amazes me is the fact that you can have a good look around military bases. My other half was looking at an army camp where he was based and it was clear enough to show me the accomodation blocks and the Naafi and such.
Why isn't this a breach of security?
I read this too V. I do care - I am quite worried about it all :(. When I read 1984 as a teenager I didn't think it could ever happen - but how wrong I was. What to do - tbh I haven't a clue how to stop the juggernaut of intrusiveness into our everyday lives 😡 and I find it very frightening.
If this continues - and I have been selective to keep my post shorter, as it isn't just Google or companies, but governments too (ours is about to keep records of all emails if it can) then the only way forward may be what used to be called 'positive action' by which I mean not being so peaceful about it, but in the name of ultimate peace. I write that because it simply has to be stopped, so what else to do? Suggestions?
Oh, I don't mean violence of course, but massive public action. Problem being, so few people seem to care, as it's invisible encroachment.
There ya go: my name and number is certainly known by now.....
V
I new all this to, its our subculture at the moment where people seam to fascinated in what other people do
But for me I have no secrets and try to live in my integrity so I dont really care who knows what I do or what I am doing if the really interests them but I really feel sorry for them if their life is that boring or dull that take all this time to do that
There are grate benefits and draw backs to all this but and I can see both sides but as a whole it brings us closer to the universal mind concepts
I feel for people that have secrets or things they try to hide from others they are the ones that are going have problems adjusting to whats coming for humanity
I dont blame and admire the companies filling needs of new technologies and making it totally available to very one openly. The ones I would worry about is the ones that dont do it openly like Microsoft I dont know what they are doing,
But its whats coming and the open people will fly in this environment as crime falls and more peaceful environment, technologies well expanded at alarming rates as people work more together with their thoughts and ideas extra
Yes, a Big Brother surveilance state is worrying, and something that needs to be prevented by public awareness of the dangers and public action.
What google is doing I think is different. Google maps, streetview, google searches, trends, what people are watching, eating, searching etc are all freely available to the public. They are not just confined to some sinister persons within a Big Brother fascist state. Google collects info so that it may be used for targeted advertising, not so that it is used to manipulate and control the public - which states love to do.
Yes, google is getting a lot of information, which in combination and by cross referencing becomes quite comprehensive - but this would only be a concern if it were to fall into state hands, because the state would then in all probabillity use that information against the public, that is against you and me.
I suspect that this is not an issue for a significant portion of any population who share all kinds of extremely personal information on forums such as this, on Twitter, on blogs, on Facebook, My Space, and on and on.
There are more and more people who don't even think twice about posting more sensitive information, voluntarily, than Google could gather through use of their search engines or cell phone apps.
Have we a right to complain when we have been part of the proliferation of this phenomena?
I think Holos hits the nail on the head. It worries me sometimes that there seems to be an entire generation growing up now (although it's not just kids) that feels incomplete if they're not constantly wired up somehow, sharing both sensitive and mundane personal information with complete strangers. The internet is an amazing resource but it needs to be treated cautiously.
A good example of this, some people I meet treat me like a social mutant because I don't normally carry my mobile around--well, why should I? When did it suddenly become necessary for us to be 'on call' 24 hours a day? I'm not a doctor. People are feeling uncomfortable and lost if they don't have this bit of kit on them at all times, and it's rather disturbing.
Getting back on topic I think the real danger is that we're becoming so accepting of intrusive technology, even considering it normal and desirable. We're trained to think of Big Brother as something forced upon us by a brutal regime, not something we take up like sweets. Technology far outpaces legislation and there's little telling what a company like Google might be doing with your info until far after the fact. Although I think much of this intrusion is relatively benign, I do worry about the ultimate effect of this new Borg mentality.
I new all this to, its our subculture at the moment where people seam to fascinated in what other people do
But for me I have no secrets and try to live in my integrity so I dont really care who knows what I do or what I am doing if the really interests them but I really feel sorry for them if their life is that boring or dull that take all this time to do that
As has often been said here on HP, mainly on the subject of ID cards, it's not so much that people 'with secrets' are going to have their privacy invaded by individuals: it's the so-swift increase in governmental surveillance. (How long before Google sell their data as the article I link to asks?) That's Big Brother. I wasn't around during Nazism but know how the Nazis kept tabs on people and hence tracked down Jews, and I was around (and went behind the Iron Curtain) a number of times during the Soviet Bloc, and no how dangerous allowing such a level of intrusion and personal date is.
And that's without going into what are now the regularly misplaced laptops and CDs with millions of peoples' information on.
V
We had one of those cars up here recently, at the time we didn't have a clue what it was.
I did a search and found it.
I was pretty shocked, there is next to nothing here, well, one day people might see me and the neighbours chatting when it went by.
😮
I read this article in the paper and I have to say it worries me. I have always reied to be an open book, but that does not mean I want someone prying into my personal information. it is scary to think they will know where any of us are at any time, no privacy. what will they do in the end plant chips in new babies so they can moniter us at all times. I would also like to know what we can do about it.
I would also like to know what we can do about it.
The first thing we can do is write to our MPs about it, they don't like to be seen as ineffective. However, they are only limited to the party line, but parties do change policy when things are debated in public.
The other thing we can do is promote and support human rights NGOs like Liberty:
http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/
Myarka.
With one thing and a blooming nuther, I hope I die before I get old :FIFangel:
We had one of those cars up here recently, at the time we didn't have a clue what it was.
I did a search and found it.I was pretty shocked, there is next to nothing here, well, one day people might see me and the neighbours chatting when it went by.
😮
How about if we all have large placards ready for if we see one? --
"Switch to Alta Vista, Yahoo, and MSN!"
Or Mel Gibson's kilt treatment??
Are we not getting a bit mixed up here? Google Earth displays still photos of most places in the UK. They are supposed to be useful for people who want to buy property - or see what their friends' houses look like, I suppose. It's the same name but a different thing from the Google search engine which apparently keeps records of what searches we all make, although it does say in the article that these records are anonymous. I'm not defending Google, I'm as nervous as the next person as to the way we're headed - but I shan't be taking to the streets to protest yet. Which I will do about ID cards if they go ahead. And anyway, how do we know that the other search engines don't operate in the same way? Aren't there problems with Yahoo too?