Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Should We Have the Option of Treating Google Like a Utility?
eegad writes "I've been thinking a lot about how much information I give to technology companies like Google and Facebook and how I'm not super comfortable with what I even dimly know about how they're handling and selling it. Is it time for major companies like this, who offer arguably utility-like services for free in exchange for info, to start giving customers a choice about how to 'pay' for their service? I'd much rather pony up a monthly fee to access all the Google services I use, for example, and be assured that no tracking or selling of my information is going on. I'm not aware of how much money these companies might make from selling data about a particular individual, but could it possibly be more than the $20 or $30 a month I'd fork over to know that my privacy is a little more secure? Is this a pipe dream, or are there other people who would happily pay for their private use of these services? What kinds of costs or problems could be involved with companies implementing this type of dual business model?"
Yes, it's what they're doing already, essentially.
It's also why these companies are hot on "real names", as there's a lot more interesting data about you in the "offline" world (e.g. house, car, neighborhood, credit, etc.)
Also see http://www.dataliberation.org/ for how to exit.
I'm pretty okay with Google at the start of 2013. Always watch for changing behavior, but that's true for everybody, including yourself.
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Or it goes to the cable tv model.
You pay every month AND you get ads AND they sell your info [secret hint, all digital TV boxes report back to the mother ship what channels you record and when, what channel you are watching, and what shows you watch later].
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Consume Watchdog is a paid astroturfing company; specifically, they are owned by Grassroots Enterprises Inc."
http://techrights.org/2009/05/04/consumer-watchdog-exposed/
For Gmail and Google Apps, there is Google Apps Premier. You can pay $50 per user a year, you get no advertisements, and you get 25 GB to store your email instead of 9 GB. The only issue is that Google Apps Premier hasn't been rolled out to all the Google Services, and it forces you to juggle multiple accounts which is a pain. And it definitely does not cover Google Search (unless you default to the incognito tab every time, which anybody can do already).
For Android, there are some ROMs that are privacy-oriented. I did try such a ROM, but I quickly reverted. In hindsight, I found that I did want google maps and google navigation to remember the last locations I had searched.
Facebook does give you the option to enter your sex, and the sex of people who interest you so.....there you go.