A Google Warning!

[POWERJIM]

Please note, Google does not track you by simply viewing pages containing their adverts.


1. Google's immortal cookie:
Google was the first search engine to use a cookie that expires in 2038. This was at a time when federal websites were prohibited from using persistent cookies altogether. Now it's years later, and immortal cookies are commonplace among search engines ; Google set the standard because no one bothered to challenge them. This cookie places a unique ID number on your hard disk. Anytime you land on a Google page, you get a Google cookie if you don't already have one. If you have one, they read and record your unique ID number.

2. Google records everything they can:
For all searches they record the cookie ID, your Internet IP address, the time and date, your search terms, and your browser configuration. Increasingly, Google is customizing results based on your IP number. This is referred to in the industry as "IP delivery based on geolocation."

3. Google retains all data indefinitely:
Google has no data retention policies. There is evidence that they are able to easily access all the user information they collect and save.

4. Google won't say why they need this data:
Inquiries to Google about their privacy policies are ignored. When the New York Times (2002-11-28) asked Sergey Brin about whether Google ever gets subpoenaed for this information, he had no comment.

5. Google hires spooks:
Matt Cutts, a key Google engineer, used to work for the National Security Agency. Google wants to hire more people with security clearances, so that they can peddle their corporate assets to the spooks in Washington.

6. Google's toolbar is spyware:
With the advanced features enabled, Google's free toolbar for Explorer phones home with every page you surf, and yes, it reads your cookie too. Their privacy policy confesses this, but that's only because Alexa lost a class-action lawsuit when their toolbar did the same thing, and their privacy policy failed to explain this. Worse yet, Google's toolbar updates to new versions quietly, and without asking. This means that if you have the toolbar installed, Google essentially has complete access to your hard disk every time you connect to Google (which is many times a day). Most software vendors, and even Microsoft, ask if you'd like an updated version. But not Google. Any software that updates automatically presents a massive security risk.

7. Google's cache copy is illegal:
Judging from Ninth Circuit precedent on the application of U.S. copyright laws to the Internet, Google's cache copy appears to be illegal. The only way a webmaster can avoid having his site cached on Google is to put a "noarchive" meta in the header of every page on his site. Surfers like the cache, but webmasters don't. Many webmasters have deleted questionable material from their sites, only to discover later that the problem pages live merrily on in Google's cache. The cache copy should be "opt-in" for webmasters, not "opt-out."

8. Google is not your friend:
By now Google enjoys a 75 percent monopoly for all external referrals to most websites. Webmasters cannot avoid seeking Google's approval these days, assuming they want to increase traffic to their site. If they try to take advantage of some of the known weaknesses in Google's semi-secret algorithms, they may find themselves penalized by Google, and their traffic disappears. There are no detailed, published standards issued by Google, and there is no appeal process for penalized sites. Google is completely unaccountable. Most of the time Google doesn't even answer email from webmasters.

9. Google is a privacy time bomb:
With 200 million searches per day, most from outside the U.S., Google amounts to a privacy disaster waiting to happen. Those newly-commissioned data-mining bureaucrats in Washington can only dream about the sort of slick efficiency that Google has already achieved.

google-watch

[theara]

this annoys me a little as i use google alot. The Alexa cookie or annoyed the hell out of me and i had to go into my registry to get rid of it. Now I might do the same to google...

[NPayette]

Originally Posted by theara

this annoys me a little as i use google alot. The Alexa cookie or annoyed the hell out of me and i had to go into my registry to get rid of it. Now I might do the same to google...

Why is that? They are doing it to increase RELEVANCE of your search? Why do you care if they collect what you are searching for? You think they personnally analyse us? No they don't care, they are doing that so they can create normalized algorithm that will return more HUMAN results to us based on what they can collect, and everything can be a source of better results. It's not to 'spy' on us... lol Business guy business.

[MindFreak]

another scare post by PJ to get people to distrust the government lol even google is in the big conspiracy

all you have to do is delete your cookies and the "immortal cookie" is gone. yeah you'll get a new one next time you use the site but you have a new "cookie id". and who cares. google gets BILLIONS of hits a year. if you think there is a human actually analyzing this data you're nuts. they program their search engine to use this data to customize your search. that's all. and further more which PJ mysteriously failed to include in his post (for the obvious reason that it doesnt fit the template of scaring everyone) Google does not share this information with the government. well in china they do cause the chinese government wouldnt allow them in china without giving them the information. so unless you are searching from china you have nothing to worry about.

[theara]

Originally Posted by NPayette

Why is that? They are doing it to increase RELEVANCE of your search? Why do you care if they collect what you are searching for? You think they personnally analyse us? No they don't care, they are doing that so they can create normalized algorithm that will return more HUMAN results to us based on what they can collect, and everything can be a source of better results. It's not to 'spy' on us... lol Business guy business.

Their search results are not the best, if you are looking for small business, mom/pop shops, etc.

I've gotten more relevant results from yahoo nowadays than google. I'm still a googler but I'm not a fan of spyware. Not saying they are spyware but I just hate spying of any kind.

[NPayette]

Originally Posted by theara

Their search results are not the best, if you are looking for small business, mom/pop shops, etc.

I've gotten more relevant results from yahoo nowadays than google. I'm still a googler but I'm not a fan of spyware. Not saying they are spyware but I just hate spying of any kind.

Not saying they are the best but all the information they are taking is for the only purpose of getting better? What does Yahoo do in this direction? Copy google.

Choose your way but don't go thinking google is any better... I remember this lawsuit where google was the only search engine to REFUSE to give our personnal data for investigation to U.S. Court, MSN, Yahoo and all the others agreed without even trying to protect our general privacy.

[jlozan84]

Originally Posted by MindFreak

another scare post by PJ to get people to distrust the government lol even google is in the big conspiracy

all you have to do is delete your cookies and the "immortal cookie" is gone. yeah you'll get a new one next time you use the site but you have a new "cookie id". and who cares. google gets BILLIONS of hits a year. if you think there is a human actually analyzing this data you're nuts. they program their search engine to use this data to customize your search. that's all. and further more which PJ mysteriously failed to include in his post (for the obvious reason that it doesnt fit the template of scaring everyone) Google does not share this information with the government. well in china they do cause the chinese government wouldnt allow them in china without giving them the information. so unless you are searching from china you have nothing to worry about.

lol - apparently everyone is out to get us. I think my wife is in on the consipiracy too.

[Lifter101]

Originally Posted by jlozan84

lol - apparently everyone is out to get us. I think my wife is in on the consipiracy too.

F*K, I knew it!! She always looked suspicious to me.

[Traps]

Back on topic please.

[Theguns]

Unless your are searching for homemade explosives or anything that is illegal i dont see how searching for "homemade cell tech" is gonna to affect your life negatively

[GetFit]

This is awesome man. They got some bright dudes there. I own a handful of their expensive but wonderful shares.