Those that fail to control technology will be controlled by it.
This summarizes my current feelings about information technology in general, and today Google in particular. Yesterday I wrote in another blog about Google’s new browser, Chrome. It is fast, uses few computer resources and has some interesting features. It is also very new. As people start to delve into how it works, concern now is being expressed about the abilities it grants to Google to track everything you do, and track back to your IP address, and cross reference that information to your physical location...its a technology wonder that is a privacy nightmare. The early release of chrome included in the End User License Agreement (EULA) provisions to allow Google access to you computer for any reason they wanted...when privacy groups cried foul, that provision was removed, but one has to wonder if the technology supporting that OOPS! in their policy wasn't left in place?
In a world where news and entertainment blur together, reality and lies are thrown together with abandon, people need to be able to trust something. Trust in government is nil, trust in the news media is nearly nil, and trust in internet news is suspect at best. I honestly think that people have a level of trust in the sanctity of the privacy they cherish while online have been duped, as nearly every browser I have tested (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera and Chrome) have provisions in the EULA for tracking of some of the things you do online.
What is really worrying about Chrome is the suspicion that Google is now venturing into wholesale Deep Packet Inspection, which is known to be used by them to assist the Peoples Republic of China to block searches offensive to the interests of the state. DPI has been used in this country by our government "for national security". That is worrisome enough, now do we really want to trust a private entity to have that level of control, with no oversight what so ever?
In addition to using DPI to secure their internal networks, Internet Service Providers also apply this technology on the public networks provided to customers. Common uses of DPI by ISPs are lawful intercept, policy definition and enforcement, targeted advertising, quality of service, offering tiered services, and copyright enforcement.
(DPI information from Wikipedia)
I'm using Chrome now, it is a great tool with limitations that I expect from a beta project. I'm pleased to get it early, as I want to watch it grow.
ReplyDeleteAs tot he EULA, I'm wondering if it wasn't Google's intention to get the attention of privacy advocates early, and let them establish the fact early that Google isn't responsible for anything they don't own ( such as our publications ). That might shift any legal/financial burdens away from Google and towards the individuals.
With the advent of ad-blockers, and Google being primarily an advertising agency ( that's where they make their money ), I have no doubt that Google wants to be able to track users habits ( your key-strokes are being recorded before you hit 'enter', not after ), primarily for advertising concerns but who knows maybe someone else might pay for that data ( da guberment ).
Technically speaking, I really like the way Chrome adds bookmarks, and allows me to build my own filing system for addresses. I wish it would also add rss feeds like IE does, but that may happen soon as Google Reader is a major part of the changes in the advertising on the internet.
That little star beside the omni-bar is the culprit in privacy violations. You can disable it from recording your URLs but you have to do it every time you load Chrome. Here's a link to a
screenshot of my browser
p.s. I had trouble posting a click-able photo link in this module. I'm hoping that's not a Chrome issue.
It's hard enough to maintain privacy online without downloading a browser that positively states that it wants to trace your whereabouts. I'll pass on this one.
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