Google's data mining capability is comparable to that of a major government. Just using their search data, they can predict disease outbreaks [0], and can probably predict other macro events like recessions and cultural shifts. Google is just more effective at processing the data that is already collected.<p>If Google ran the War on Terror, they would dissolve 99.9% of plots before they begin. The falsely accused would have to sit in prison, since they couldn't get anyone on the phone even if they wanted to. That's fine though, because they would get free food and Internet in their Google jail cell, and hear talks by other famous inmates.<p>[0] <a href="http://www.google.org/flutrends/" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.org/flutrends/</a>
Why don't any of these articles put blame on the users, for broadcasting their data without any encryption set up? I guess that's not the exciting news story. They could at least use the opportunity to educate people a bit..
Many regular users - and younger members of society especially (like my younger siblings for example) - have absolutely no concern for privacy or the potential for abuse by companies like Google.<p>What will it take before the general public understands kind of dangers involved? Or are privacy concerns largely theoretical musings by geeks, which simply aren't as important as we imagine them to be?
"Google blamed the collection on a rogue bit of code that was never removed after it had been inserted by an engineer during testing"<p>I've seen this quoted before. If it's accurate it's pretty damn weak, in fact totally unbelievable. There's absolutely no way this data could have been collected unless deliberately.
Among other things, they could easily blackmail any public figure who used Google search (or mail, maps, etc.)<p>There are various ways they could frame this to retain their image...one would be to announce a campaign to crack down on the use of gmail for lawbreaking. Then sweep email for selective incidents involving politicians (and reporters!) threatening Google with regulation, and report to the authorities.<p>They already do this with child pron, so this would just be moving the bar back towards things that 99% (as opposed to 99.999...%) of society opposed. Escorts are probably a good place to start if you wanted to take down politicians.
No trolling, just a supposition: I'd like to answer this with a movie quote (I just can't recall the movie for some reason) - "...and like it or not, they're going to build you a new civilization, under a new world order."<p>What <i>can't</i> be done when a single company in the world has, with a multitude of "free" services, crawled into every crevice of your private life? They know who you e-mail and what you mail about. They know your calendar and schedules. They know your economy. They know your medical history. They know who your friends are and what you do on your vacation. They know your hobbies and interests. Traverse the list of Google products and you'll quickly see that every single aspect of your life can now have a Google tag on it.