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Comment by petea | Hacker News Reader

What is actually bad about Google's "corporate mass surveillance"?

It sure sounds scary, but when I actually try to think about what it is actually bad about it, I can't really think of any.

Every single user Google got, they signed up voluntarily. Google never forced anyone to sign up for their services.

Google attempts to learn about its users just like every other companies. It's just that Google does it so much better than others. Do you get the label "corporate mass surveillance", when the company becomes so good learning about its users?

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Informed Consent.

When I started using Google services many years ago, it definitely didn't occur to me they could basically track you across half the web. And you don't really get much of a choice in the matter. You can actively try to avoid Google sites and they're probably not missing out on a ton.

But more importantly, my grandmother certainly doesn't have any idea what they're doing.

And to be honest, I'm not much better off. So hard to consent to something if I'm not even sure what all they're gathering, and what they're doing with it.

>But more importantly, my grandmother certainly doesn't have any idea what they're doing.

Great point. Users are strongly encouraged to create a Google account when they setup a new Android device, and I suspect a significant portion have little-to-no idea about how their data is used.

I believe you are supposed to read and agree the terms of an agreement when doing that. 99.9% of the people dont even read the TOS.Who is to blame ? the user or the corporation ? I think both parties own a bit of the problem.

"You can actively try to avoid Google sites and they're probably not missing out on a ton."

Just expanding on your point here, but of course actively avoiding Google's sites isn't nearly enough -- unless you take very specific steps to block Google Analytics callbacks, Google is going to know virtually everything you do on the web whether or not you ever use them for search or go directly to any sites they own.

The fact that you managed to get people to go along voluntarily with something harmful to them by presenting it as something benign does not make your actions ultimately benign.

And yes, there comes a point where simple observation crosses the line. This is generally recognized by society. If I take a picture on the street and a particular person happens to be in it, that is generally OK. Most people wouldn't look askance at that. If I take a picture of the same person through their bedroom window, I'm liable to be arrested and labeled a creep. The specifics of information-gathering matter very much to how OK it is in terms of social acceptance.

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