Your Privacy and Google
06.24.07 - 09:30pm
Google has easily become one of the largest keepers of secrets on the planet. With services ranging from email, videos, web indexing, advertising and beyond Google has their fingers in nearly every Internet related technology. Information has become a rather expensive commodity, people are willing to pay exorbitant amounts of money for something as small as a couple thousand 9 digit numbers or email addresses. With the right information an individual could potentially assume your identity and cause all sorts of mayhem in your life. Besides identity theft there is also the issue of privacy. Where does one draw the line on personal privacy on the World Wide Web?
The Internet can be a very scary place for those not well versed in how to traverse it’s great depths. The anonymity that the Internet provides gives individuals the ability to lead a double-life with some individuals bent on taking advantage of other users for their personal gain. Most notably are the identity thieves and the spammers, these two characters are commonly discussed amongst non-techie people as they pose an immediate threat. What isn’t so commonly discussed are the griefers and malignantly motivated individuals that populate the world with a sole purpose of causing pain in other individuals. Because Google has managed to invade every online aspect of our lives they are prime targets for information robberies and the beginning of a string of potentially expensive situations.
Gmail
Google brags of giving it’s users damn near 3 gigabytes of storage so they will never have to permanently delete an email. This feature is great as I use Gmail for remote document/file storage when I need to quickly transfer/store documents but the repercussions of having these files in a “unsecured” location can be most frustrating. I try very hard to never post any information that can be used to cause financial harm to me but try as you might it’s possible for enough data to collect over the years for someone to be able to impersonate you.
Gtalk
When Google integrated Gtalk into Gmail I was very excited as some locations have no instant-messaging applications. You never know when you need to fire off a few IMs and with no smart phone but laptop Internet access this can be a welcome boon. Unfortunately Gtalk logs every conversation and saves it under your Gmail archives. Now imagine the problems that could occur if someone were to dig through your archives.
Youtube
What could possibly be wrong with Gootube? I’ve contemplated multiple times using YouTube as a host for a low-key video blog done around my house. By broadcasting personal videos about my life I could easily make myself a target to both physical and digital crimes. Perhaps I banked up enough cash and splurged on say.. twin 30″ wide screens and inadvertently displayed them within one of my vids. My current address is easily located and what an easy target that would be, one nights work to net a few grand in electronics. Other things could include automobiles, televisions and other simple things that you wouldn’t find dangerous to display but others would love to steal.
Google Map Street View
Oh my.. now this is a potential nightmare in regards to personal privacy. I understand the principle behind Street View and appreciate what Google is trying to do but the privacy invasion implications just abound. I’m just waiting for Street View to be used as photographic evidence to convict/excuse somebody in court. Otherwise there is something about pictures of you being distributed on the Internet without your permission that bugs me. Yeah yeah, the chances of someone being caught in an image is slim to nil but the concept bugs me. Call me paranoid but this reminds me of 1984 with the cameras all over the place. Did I also mention that people have made a game of searching for funny/crazy images on Street View? Yeah..
Adsense
Here is another service that I appreciate (feel free to click an ad or two, it puts food on the table) but the repercussions of a security breach are huge. I’m sure Google has all the information locked away with a three headed dog guarding the door but still, I’m sure they have a few million email addresses, physical addresses, and banking accounts on file. If my bank account, address, and social security number were leaked I would be very afraid of what a malicious individual could accomplish with those numbers. I continue to use Adsense entrusting Google to keep these secrets secret but the fear of those numbers being leaked is always sitting there on the back burner.
Perhaps I sound paranoid or perhaps I’m the early-warning horn going off but either way there is a risk here and it should be recognized. The only safe computer is one disconnected from the Internet, all computers can be compromised with enough effort and this fact scares me. As more and more of me leaks onto the web I struggle keeping track of where I have been and who knows what about me, hopefully my Internet life won’t come around to bite me in the ass. Now back to fulfilling a contract my Internet life got for my physical life.
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