Google Implemented New Privacy Policy Today

http://www.techieapps.com/google-implemented-new-privacy-policy-today-take-control-over-it-with-two-simple-steps/

by websagir • 14 years ago

22 19 14 years ago

Internet Giant Google, despite of getting warnings from the European Union that it might infringe European law, has gone ahead and implemented its new privacy policy today.

rbarooah8• 14 years ago

The fact is, that was nowhere near enough notice for me to exit all the services I've been using with Google since 2003.

I had:

Gmail Apps for Domain (3 domains) AppEngine Calendar Reader Analytics Docs Voice Picasa

...and probably a bunch of others I haven't noticed.

I'm down to:

AppEngine Reader Analytics

I'm most of the way through exiting, but I still haven't had time to move AppEngine ones even though they little more than static sites.

I don't know of a decent alternative to Reader since most of the Apps seem to use it as their backend.

Analytics is easily replaced.

abdulla2• 14 years ago

Don't you think that was a bit of an overreaction? And will you be doing the same for any Microsoft and Facebook services you use?

rbarooah8• 14 years ago

I don't like Google's business model or the trade they want me to make in exchange for their services. Therefore I am taking my business elsewhere.

How can that be an overreaction? Isn't this how capitalism is supposed to work?

(I don't use any microsoft services that I'm aware of, and I will quit facebook after I'm done getting out of google)

glennos3• 14 years ago

I'm with abdulla. Sure it's not great that Google want to use more of our data. It's annoying, but unfortunately the internet can't be truly free. Google appear to give you pretty decent tools to limit how they use your data.

Switching off third party cookies is also very easy to do. I've done it in Chrome an have no advertising related cookies listed.

rbarooah, I'm not sure where you intend to move your services. Would be interesting for you to list the alternatives you have found.

rbarooah8• 14 years ago

Are you with abdulla because you are personally ok with the trade Google is asking for, or because that you think that anyone who isn't ok with it is overreacting?

rbarooah8• 14 years ago

"Unfortunately the internet can't be truly free". This is true, but there's no reason it has to be paid by selling our attention. I'd rather use money.

Google Apps - I'm using local apps - iWork - with dropbox for collaboration.

AppEngine - linode, rackspace cloud, & AWS.

Picasa - iPhoto + Email

Voice - SkypeIn

Calendar - iCloud

freehunter4• 14 years ago

Their "new" privacy policy isn't really new, just tweaked. Google's been doing business the same way they are now for years. If you just suddenly decided you needed to divest and you couldn't get that done in a month or two... were you sleeping the whole time, or did you just not realize they were using your demographic data the whole time? AppEngine notwithstanding, moving from the other services could be done in one weekend, and Google makes it pretty easy.

Nowhere near enough notice? It's like someone told you that you live in a flood zone and you didn't realize you've been standing in water for almost 10 years already.

rbarooah8• 14 years ago

It's nowhere near enough notice to take reasonable action.

You say it could be done in a weekend. Do you know this because you've done it?

To do anything other than an emergency exit, you need time to evaluate and select alternatives, and that doesn't include things like GMail, where there needs to be an overlap for people to update my address etc. (yes I used my own domain - no google didn't make it transparent enough that my gmail address didn't leak out).

As for the flood zone analogy - that's absurd. At some point along the way I'd have had to decide I was going to stop using them. In my case that point is now.

You seem to be suggesting that it should have been before now, and that a change in terms and conditions isn't a reasonable indication of their future direction.

Consider that Google's could have changed their T&Cs in the other direction - to commit to greater segregation of user data had they thought this was important.

They didn't.

gyardley• 14 years ago

Hooray -- maybe I'll finally stop being told about it and how important it is. Being incessantly told about the policy change was way more annoying than the policy change itself.

glennos3• 14 years ago

"This stuff matters" is burnt into my retinas.

freehunter4• 14 years ago

It was really irritating with Chrome on Android. Having to click this tiny little "go away" link combined with Chrome's zoom feature when you click anywhere made a simple search an exercise in frustration.

Google Implemented New Privacy Policy Today

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