The Busy Pixel

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  Google developing eavesdropping software | The Register

  05:05:00 am on September 4, 2006 | # | 6
  

  Google developing eavesdropping software | The Register

  Do More Evil seems to be Google’s new motto. Are they really a search company anymore? I don’t think so. I think search now only serves the purpose of serving ads. If this technology mentioned in the article is real, I can only hope the potential PR nightmare following it will keep google from from doing it.

  How will they do it exactly? They could use Macromedia Adobe Flash, but the one drawback (from googles perspective) is that the Flash security model asks the user if they want will allow the Flash file to use the person’s microphone and/or camera. I think you only have to click that once for it to remember it for a domain (and I think you can turn it off again manually via some kind of panel, but its been a while). All in all I think this next move by google is total crap. A real invasion of privacy, proctologist style.

  If this goes live, will you stop using google services?

Comments

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  Frosty Goodness 11:14 am on September 4, 2006 | #

  I barely use google services as it is now. Not having folders in mail is just plain dumb.

  Even without it, Google always seems to be missing certain features in each of their apps that makes them 100% useful.

  And now eavesdropping. Jolly. Good thing I dont have a microphone. Or maybe I should buy one and keep it permanently posted next to the toilet. Let’s see the “fingerprint” for last nights burrito.

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  antman45 8:52 am on September 5, 2006 | #

  Yeah that’s lame, but I don’t own a cam and my mic is always off.

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  kermit 9:35 am on September 5, 2006 | #

  you dont own a cam…then who have I been watching every night?

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  Chris 11:35 am on September 5, 2006 | #

  Ever since The Register had a nice fat article about how their OFFICIAL source inside AMD said they would NOT buy ATI I haven’t been really trusting the stuff The Register puts out.

  That said, if this is true, no, I probably won’t stop using google services but I definately won’t use that service.

  As for the email folders thing. I find them annoying now after using gmail. Why would anybody want folders?? Labels can sort and filter your emails just the same as a folder displays them to you. Plus you don’t have to select each different folder when you search for something.

  At work I use thunderbird to connect to our exchange server via IMAP. I hate having to select “Inbox” or “Sent Items” or any other folder I have mail filtered to just to search for a specific email.

  I’m not a google junkie but they definately have some good ideas when it comes to email.

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  Nathan 10:10 pm on September 6, 2006 | #

  I listened to a panel talk (for work) about the ethics of storing search data, and one thing stuck out. Through the Freedom of Information Act, we have the right to request and obtain copies of all the data the government has collected on us. BUT, since Google is a private company, no such law exists. Every gmail you write or delete, stored. And you have absolutely no rights to make them reveal what they have. Scary.

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  bucky 5:07 pm on September 7, 2006 | #

  That really applies to any isp, not just gmail. Its scary to think how many people rely on email to send private stuff. You know what? Email isnt secure. Unless you use pgp keys or something similiar to encrypt it, but I have not done that since the days of ‘finding’ things on the internet.