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April 25, 2004
Google: Too much information?
Posted by David Weinberger
According to someone on a mailing list I'm on (i.e., I'm about to spread a rumor), Google's controversial GMail service (proposed tagline: "GMail touches your GSpot") will use the same long-lived cookie for your email as they do for your search history. So now Google will know (if this rumor is true) not just the content of your emails, but also what you've been looking for ... and who you are.
If the above rumors and conclusions speciously drawn from rumors are true, it will require me to append to my "In Google We Trust" tattoo the words "But not
that much."
Comments (7)
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1. Seth Finkelstein on April 25, 2004 6:04 PM writes...
The writing's been on the wall since Orkut.
No need for "conspiracy", to pre-emptively address that.
Demographic data is *VALUABLE*. It's profitable and competitive. Google wants it. QED.
Permalink to Comment2. maetl_ on April 25, 2004 6:14 PM writes...
except that it's more than just demographic data, it's moving towards being a structured, topological record of personal network communication and information being transferred/accessed. To me, that potetial for data gathering goes way beyond demographics.
Permalink to Comment3. Philipp Lenssen on April 26, 2004 3:48 AM writes...
If you want to keep your privacy, you should not sign up at Gmail (or any other webmailer). It's simply not private to store your communication on servers which don't belong to you. It's not even private to search at Google. If someone would care they could analyze IP search patterns and find out who you are pretty soon. For a time I stored queries from my own search engine and in a single session people will often google their own name, then go on to google something else -- same IP. If some would care, they could analyze this. Matter of fact no one cares... it's not commercial.
Permalink to Comment4. Yaacov Iland on April 26, 2004 12:19 PM writes...
For those interested in knowing more about privacy-invasive uses of your search queries by Google, there's information and a proxy at
Permalink to Commentwww.google-watch.org
5. jojo on April 26, 2004 3:43 PM writes...
And there's Google Watch watch for those that want to uncover the truth behind the search engine spammer loon that runs Google Watch:
Permalink to Commenthttp://google-watch-watch.org/
6. Tijs on April 26, 2004 5:12 PM writes...
i signed up through blogger and only later realised that they now which weblog belongs to that search cookie and that e-mail address... now if i only sign up to orkut with my gmail address i will become transparent.
Permalink to Comment7. Tijs on April 26, 2004 5:13 PM writes...
i signed up with gmail through blogger and only later realised that they know which weblog belongs to that search cookie and that e-mail address... now if i only sign up to orkut with my gmail address i will become transparent.
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