Google: evil

[reality_hammer]

LiveJournal? Neutral good.
Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the worst among the Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles personal information about its users

Comments

[dlombard]

Not surprised. I am always super susupicious when a business touts itself as not just a company that offers really good services or products at great prices, or is a great place to work because they will help you foster growth in your career, pay for technical certification or other professional instruction, etc. But try to come across as "socially responsible," like Starbucks and Toyota do. Actually better as a company because they use feel good terminology like "moving forward" and other progressive-think speak.

Google raised my suspicions with their "do no evil" policy. You need a policy for that?

I guess when you want to be the next Microsoft, you need to do or say something to make people believe you're "not evil."

"Do no evil." So which companies are evil, Google? Ask.com? Yahoo!? What are they doing that is "evil" that you're not doing?

*shrugs*

I continue to use them, despite this and other questionable practices (some months back, I wrote about their weird complicitness in China's facist control of information and have commented on their continued lack of recognition where Holidays with patriotic or religious associations are conerined), but the difference between Google and Toyota or Starbucks is that using their search engine doesn't cost me many times the going rate of using any other website.

But I sure as shit don't use Gmail. Not only is the interface ugly, I'd rather not Google maintain an archive of every message I've ever received or sent. I realize there is no such thing as totally private e-mail (and it certainly isn't protected the same way Federal law protects mail sent via the postal service). But what a cost effective way for a single company to build up a lot of useful information on what you do, and who you talk to.

[calcnerd256]

http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html
the sixth item is where the famous "do no evil" comes from

[luprand]

Personally, if I ever form a company, I'm going to have a policy that says, "Do evil. Not too often. But when you do, make sure you enjoy it."