I’m having a continuing “discussion” with a friend who tends towards the conspiracist side of things. He sees Google, Youtube, MS, Facebook et al of being stooges for some kind of big brother who is watching us at all times.
After one of his emails where he expressed concern about Google manipulating our lives, I responded thus;
My bottom line is this – the web is a useful tool that enables lots of different stuff – be it piracy, efficiency, productivity or whatever
Truth is by using it at all you accept some inherent risks – I do my banking online and accept that someone might be able to intercept my password and withdraw money. But even if I didn’t someone could break into the bank and steal my money, or a dodgy teller could do so. So risks are there no matter what – what stops a mail worker from steaming open my private mail?
Given that this is the case, the privacy risks of using Google et al are similar to those in the real world. Except that Google sees so much more information that mine is only a squillionth of what they see and thus arguably less interesting
I’m not that worried that they know where and when I surf if it enables me to achieve faster, better and more relevant search results – quid pro quo
Following on from that – and for the seriously concerned out there, check this list out – ten sure fire ways to ensure big brother can’t see you…..
