- Google-Watch.org - a site looking into the worry implications
of
- Google's near monopoly of web search engines.
-
- Take a look at this...
- <http://google-watch.org/>
- 1. Google's immortal cookie:
-
- Google was the first search engine to use a cookie that
expires in 2038. This was at a time when federal websites were prohibited
from using persistent cookies altogether. Now it's years later, and immortal
cookies are commonplace among search engines; Google set the standard because
no one bothered to challenge them. This cookie places a unique ID number
on your hard disk. Anytime you land on a Google page, you get a Google
cookie if you don't already have one. If you have one, they read and record
your unique ID number.
-
- 2. Google records everything they can:
-
- For all searches they record the cookie ID, your Internet
IP address, the time and date, your search terms, and your browser configuration.
Increasingly, Google is customizing results based on your IP number. This
is referred to in the industry as "IP delivery based on geolocation."
-
- 3. Google retains all data indefinitely:
-
- Google has no data retention policies. There is evidence
that they are able to easily access all the user information they collect
and save.
-
- 4. Google won't say why they need this data:
-
- Inquiries to Google about their privacy policies are
ignored. When the New York Times (2002-11-28) asked Sergey Brin about whether
Google ever gets subpoenaed for this information, he had no comment.
-
- 5. Google hires spooks:
-
- Matt Cutts, a key Google engineer, used to work for the
National Security Agency. Google wants to hire more people with security
clearances, so that they can peddle their corporate assets to the spooks
in Washington.
-
- 6. Google's toolbar is spyware:
-
- With the advanced features enabled, Google's free toolbar
for Explorer phones home with every page you surf, and yes, it reads your
cookie too. Their privacy policy confesses this, but that's only because
Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit when their toolbar did the same thing,
and their privacy policy failed to explain this. Worse yet, Google's toolbar
updates to new versions quietly, and without asking. This means that if
you have the toolbar installed, Google essentially has complete access
to your hard disk every time you connect to Google (which is many times
a day). Most software vendors, and even Microsoft, ask if you'd like an
updated version. But not Google. Any software that updates automatically
presents a massive security risk.
-
- 7. Google's cache copy is illegal:
-
- Judging from Ninth Circuit precedent on the application
of U.S. copyright laws to the Internet, Google's cache copy appears to
be illegal. The only way a webmaster can avoid having his site cached on
Google is to put a "noarchive" meta in the header of every page
on his site. Surfers like the cache, but webmasters don't. Many webmasters
have deleted questionable material from their sites, only to discover later
that the problem pages live merrily on in Google's cache. The cache copy
should be "opt-in" for webmasters, not "opt-out."
-
- 8. Google is not your friend:
-
- Young, stupid script kiddies and many bloggers still
think Google is "way kool," so by now Google enjoys a 75 percent
monopoly for all external referrals to most websites. No webmaster can
avoid seeking Google's approval these days, assuming he wants to increase
traffic to his site. If he tries to take advantage of some of the known
weaknesses in Google's semi-secret algorithms, he may find himself penalized
by Google, and his traffic disappears. There are no detailed, published
standards issued by Google, and there is no appeal process for penalized
sites. Google is completely unaccountable. Most of the time they don't
even answer email from webmasters.
-
- 9. Google is a privacy time bomb:
-
- With 200 million searches per day, most from outside
the U.S., Google amounts to a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Those
newly-commissioned data-mining bureaucrats in Washington can only dream
about the sort of slick efficiency that Google has already achieved.
-
- http://google-watch.org
- http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/10/278746.html
-
-
-
- Comment
From Anonymous
10-13-3
-
- Hi Jeff,
-
- Thought you should know about another important reason
why Google is not your friend. This darkly subversive aspect of Google
was pointed out to me by someone at work, and it sounded so outlandish
that I just didn't believe it at first. But he insisted, and so I decided
to see for myself. I was shocked to see that it was true!
-
- As you know, Google categorizes websites that it has
archived. Site owners do not pick the category, but it is placed there
according to rules that Google has in place. For example, RENSE.COM is
categorized as "Arts > Radio > Formats > Talk Radio >
Programs > Paranormal."
-
- Well they have a strong Zionist bias in the way they
categorize and present any site dealing with race and ethnicity. Namely,
any pro-Western Civilization group, or any pro-white (Caucasian) group
is labeled as "hate speech," while groups pro- any other race
or ethnicity are considered noble and respectable, and gain their own category.
-
- In their special category for ethnicity, whites are not
allowed:
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Ethnicity/
-
- However, all other races and groups are happily represented
there:
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Ethnicity/African/African-American/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Ethnicity/Asian/Asian-American/
-
- The largest is for the Jewish race, which is a link to
here:
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Judaism/
-
- I say "race" because this link is listed in
the Ethnicity category. The sites it links to include many on Jewish pride,
voting pro-Jewish, political activism, criticism of outside groups, etc.
Even a special category on Science and Judaism, with special directories,
ethics codes, etc.
-
- Radical "black power" groups get links on this
page under "Nationalism":
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Ethnicity/African/African-American/
-
- "Pro-Asian" organizations that only hire "Asian-Americans,"
and whose sole purpose is to advance this particular racial group, also
get their own respectable "Ethnicity" page:
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Ethnicity/Asian/Asian-American/Organizations/
-
- Even all other "nationalist" groups get respectable
pages under "Politics":
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Politics/Nationalism/Black/
http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Politics/Nationalism/Zionism/
-
- But of course "white" nationalism goes in the
special racist category for hate speech:
-
- http://directory.google.com/Top/Society/Issues/Race-Ethnic-Religious_
Relations/Race_and_Racism/Supremacy_and_Separatism/White/
-
- Who controls Google, and who makes these policies?
-
- Who says what is hate speech, and what is not?
-
- Who owns your culture?
-
- What are YOU going to do about it?
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