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Google Secret Privacy Document Leaked

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the don't-look-there dept.

siliconbits writes "A confidential, seven-page Google Inc. 'vision statement' shows the information-age giant in a deep round of soul-searching over a basic question: How far should it go in profiting from its crown jewels—the vast trove of data it possesses about people's activities? Should it tap more of what it knows about Gmail users? Should it build a vast 'trading platform' for buying and selling Web data? Should it let people pay to not see any ads at all?"

1 of 281 comments (clear)

  1. To see where the story has come since 2008... by dollarwizard · · Score: 1, Redundant

    ...you should see this blog post from Google: Personalized Search For Everyone.

    Whether a computer is signed in or not, the Gorg is tracking everything the computer does, in order to "personalize" the search results for it.

    It seems the concept of "opt in" is now gone forever, since tracking is the default. I wonder if privacy advocates even understand the implications, given how often Google is the Internet for so many people.

    (By the way, for Google fanboys, a non-evil company would have a toggle on the search page saying, "Personalized Results: ON - OFF"... But I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.)