Google thinks you don’t need privacy
December 15th, 2009 by Lance Cottrell
You Have Zero Privacy Anyway — Get Over It
This is a good article by David Adams on OSnews talking about a recent quote by Google CEO Eric Schmidt saying “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” David compares this to a similar and infamous quote by Sun’s Scott McNealy.
I think the reality is not that privacy is dead, or unimportant, but that it is hard. Maintaining privacy requires thought and vigilance, now more than ever. Much as I love it, the Internet is the most surveillance enabled and friendly technology ever created.
- Lance Cottrell
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on Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 at 7:04 am and is filed under Anonymity, Internet, Online Privacy, Personal Privacy, Surveillance.
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January 2nd, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Thanks for running this quote from Schmidt. There’s an easy answer to his question - those of us who are in businesses and professions that require confidentiality of information don’t want people to know that we’re using the internet to transmit that information or communicate with clients who have every legal right to confidentiality. I do mind Eric knowing what I’m doing and I mind any other ISP, search engine, etc. knowing that.
The statement shows a stunning lack of understanding about what actually goes on with network services.
This is just another example of the decayed state of big business leaders in this country. They can’t think of anything much other than that which fits in their universe. Quite frankly, I’m surprised the Google guy said this but, oh well…
Thanks for providing the services you provide and the open forum.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
The part I would take some issue with is the comment stating that if someone needs so much privacy they are probably doing something they shouldn’t be doing.
That is so untrue.
A couple of years ago I noticed several small debits from my bank account to online companies I had never purchased from. I had purchased from the big online companies like eBay and things like that. Then I noticed a bunch of debit charges ranging from about $10 up to about $35. I contacted my bank and found these had been charged to my debit card number. I searched on Google for the companies and most if not all had a long history of online complaints for fraud. I filed for charge-back and got most of my money back. What I found out is that either spyware or some other dubious method had been used to get my name, address, and bank card info, then the companies used that to debit small amounts hoping I wouldn’t notice.
Needless to say, online privacy IS necessary if you do any sort of business online, even something as simple as eBay.
Never mind people who might be involved in larger businesses, or those who monitor the internet for intelligence purposes, cooperate with agencies as informants, etc.
Privacy is also important for minors and women who join online groups and sometimes people get their information and use it to stalk them.
I have heard of people who might disagree with the way a group owner runs the group, or get into online arguments with group members to the point arguments start. then people start threatening and some people just get afraid someone will try to locate them through the internet and cause them some harm in one way or another.
These are but a few legitimate reasons online privacy is important