google privacy policy
- Thread starter Narj
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Aug 2003
- Posts
- 20,167
- Location
- Woburn Sand Dunes
.
I raised an eyebrow over the retention and correlation of your phone ID etc so that everything you search for or do while signed in could be tracked along with exactly who did it (ie: personally identifiable).
Not an issue on my desktop as I never sign into Google from there and run a sandboxed browser but it all seems a bit sinister on the mobile device front.
They record the time and date, and caller and receiver number from android phones. Hmmmmmm!
They record where you are and where you go. Hmmmmmm!
They monitor which sites you visit if that site has Google ads which is most of the Internet. Hmmmmmm!
Even if you block cookies they still know who you are from your user agent. Hmmmmmm!
And they combine it all together to make minority report a reality.
Thanks for that, almost impossible to do that on a mobile!
But yes, that sums it up. What happened to "don't be evil"?
I presume AdBlock+ will take care of the advertisement concerns but that's one small part of it. :/
Seeing as you can't avoid giving personal details for a google account to use the Android Market, it stinks.
But yes, that sums it up. What happened to "don't be evil"?
I presume AdBlock+ will take care of the advertisement concerns but that's one small part of it. :/
Seeing as you can't avoid giving personal details for a google account to use the Android Market, it stinks.
I'm trying to understand this. If I send Google an SMS then I think it's perfectly reasonable for them to store the content. What I'm worried about is, is that quote saying that if I send a friend a text message from my android phone (i.e. Google service) they store the content? If so that's totally totally unacceptable and makes me very nervous...
Serious question - Why would it make you nervous unless you are using Google's sevrvices for something sensitive or criminal?
For the record, I don't buy into the whole "if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" brigade. Some things are just no one else's business irrespective of what it is you are doing.
For the record, I don't buy into the whole "if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear" brigade. Some things are just no one else's business irrespective of what it is you are doing.
Soldato
- Joined
- 3 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 3,489
- Location
- At Home
What I find strange is how many people are up in arms about this.....just because google make it plain and clear what they are doing (unlike most others)
Yet most of the same people didn't really bat an eyelid when they went around gathering payload data via everyones open wi-fi networks - and the same people are quite happy to log onto Facebook every day (both on their phones, PCs etc) and bascially give up every last little bit of info about their life to a company that is making billions through underhand data retention and targeted adverts.
It's the world we live in now. You are watched everywhere and everything is recorded. Not much you can do about it these days - apart from stop using devices/email althogether.
Just look at what you ISP keeps - or your work, or even your phone network provider.
Yet most of the same people didn't really bat an eyelid when they went around gathering payload data via everyones open wi-fi networks - and the same people are quite happy to log onto Facebook every day (both on their phones, PCs etc) and bascially give up every last little bit of info about their life to a company that is making billions through underhand data retention and targeted adverts.
It's the world we live in now. You are watched everywhere and everything is recorded. Not much you can do about it these days - apart from stop using devices/email althogether.
Just look at what you ISP keeps - or your work, or even your phone network provider.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 16 Nov 2010
- Posts
- 16,511
- Location
- Swimming in a lake
This.
I think people complain because Google are so open about it, and people know therefore what's being done. But everyone does it. Only difference is Google has the power to collate all the data because we use them for so many services
kd
Time to ditch Android and buy iPhones.
Because Apple are so open about what data they are collecting about people..... Ummm hold on!
Not nervous for me specifically but nervous that this kind of personal, and in the case of text messages sometimes very sensitive, data collection is acceptable / tolerated.
Could rogue Google employees be the next 'phone hacking scandal'?
Every message you write I think is a joke because you end with kd (kidding)
why would it be a scandal, when their policie says they can obtain and use such info.
Because it builds up general profiles based on city etc, and shopping habits (advertising!)
IE if they know that people who live in say, South London travel by Underground, and visit Costa Coffee/Starbucks, and visit Waterstones but are also likely to go into certain supermarkets they can target advertising more carefully for people in that area.
They already do it a lot with your home PC if you're using any google services, thanks to the various cookies and stat services they provide to websites, it's how they target you with ads based on your browsing habits.
The mobile data gathering is pretty much the same but in RL rather than just online.
I'm not all that happy with that sort of thing in RL myself, but then I'm not one of those who thinks you can't possibly be out of the house without a "smart phone", and who doesn't even look at his mobile for hours/days at a time unless I'm setting an alarm
(only family or very good friends have my mobile number, and they know i'm more likely to answer an msn).And for those that think Apple is any better, they had a bit of a scandal about something very similar to this a while back - iirc the Iphones were tracking/reporting back on your location even when it was meant to have that function turned off
And for those that think Apple is any better, they had a bit of a scandal about something very similar to this a while back - iirc the Iphones were tracking/reporting back on your location even when it was meant to have that function turned off
nope, it didn't report back.
It collected info, to help applications to get an instant fix on your position. Rather than waiting for gps to lock on. It didn't send it back, the only issue was that it was stored in an encrypted file, so someone could still your phone and find out your habits. They fixed it in two ways. Deleting old data, as it only needs to know where you are in the present and it's now in the encrypted part of the OS.
Saying that in the T&Cs it does allow for apple to collect location based info, but ATM they don't.
Soldato
- Joined
- 3 Jan 2004
- Posts
- 3,489
- Location
- At Home
As I said above - Facebook is far, far worse - and no-one really bats an eyelid.
Do you realise most people allow them to use their entire phone contact database - they then use the phone numbers and match them to businesses in your area. They build up a profile of you, say..... you like chineses (as you have 4 numbers on your phone) - you also like reflexology - or custom car mechanics - Seeing as they already know your location - and your friends - they then target you (and your friends) with rubbish adverts tailored to your interests/phone contacts.
Does that seem OK ?
Given that the entire business model of Google (and Facepalm for that matter) is based on gathering all possible information about you, and then selling as much detail as they can get away with, why is anyone surprised? As others have observed, when Orwell wrote 1984 he can never have guessed that people would be happy to tell Big Brother every detail of their private life just as long as it looked like they were getting a "service".
M
M
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
It doesnt say they'll store your private text messages and emails.
It says if you send THEM a text message or email, they'll store it along with your details.
Send a text to a google service: They keep it
Send a text to your mate Bob: They won't even see it, because it's going over your mobile network not Googles network.
It says if you send THEM a text message or email, they'll store it along with your details.
Send a text to a google service: They keep it
Send a text to your mate Bob: They won't even see it, because it's going over your mobile network not Googles network.