Is Google an ethical company?

Sylvester

Sometimes, you just have to turn a blind eye to the things a big company like Google does in order to enjoy the free services they are offering. Otherwise you are free to go elsewhere and find another service that doesn't do those things or at least isn't so public about them.

11 years ago

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Corzhens

I agree that we should be appreciating the free services of a company although we should also be aware of their underground intent, if there is any. I remember the time when Microsoft was hit a by case of anti-trust. Oh well, I’m sure Google is on the lookout and wouldn’t want to find itself on the same situation. Nevertheless, Google is still doing well as regards public service so I’d say let’s trust Google for now.

7 years ago

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NaturalWriter

Other than privacy intrusions, do you think Google has the user's best interest in mind for sites such as Google search, Youtube, Gmail and Google+?

Honestly... No...
All they see are the dollar signs, and how much more money they can suck out of people, by invading their privacy. Google Maps for instance... CREEPY!!! What if they took a picture of my house and you could see me naked dancing in my living room?? Not only would the people have nightmares for the rest of their lives, but what about having say in any of this? You don't have a choice in the matter.

I have to remember to disconnect the internet off my phone if I'm taking pictures and keep it off until I put them on my computer, because if I don't... ALL the pictures I take automatically updates on Google, without my say so!

Ewwwee... Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl...lol
Blak!! PPbbffttt!!

Plus there's debate over them being fraudulent as well with Adsense...
Check this out HERE, it's a case about Google getting sued.

11 years ago

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Beverly

Honestly... No...
All they see are the dollar signs, and how much more money they can suck out of people, by invading their privacy. Google Maps for instance... CREEPY!!! What if they took a picture of my house and you could see me naked dancing in my living room?? Not only would the people have nightmares for the rest of their lives, but what about having say in any of this? You don't have a choice in the matter.

When we first moved to our current home, Google didn't have permission to take photographs of this area as it's in a private community. But, a few weeks ago, I checked our house on Google Maps and they have an image of the top of our house (taken by satellite, I'm sure) and you can see the details of the roads around. I know all this would be available to anyone driving up our street, but it does feel like an invasion. I am not interested in someone halfway around the world, seeing any part of my house. And, what you said about not having a choice in the matter, I would want to opt out of this, but that's not an option. It creeps me out. :/

I have to remember to disconnect the internet off my phone if I'm taking pictures and keep it off until I put them on my computer, because if I don't... ALL the pictures I take automatically updates on Google, without my say so!

Ewwwee... Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl...lol
Blak!! PPbbffttt!!

wow! That's scary! :/

I didn't realize they were nabbing the pictures like that. I'm super private, especially about photos of my family (only sharing with other family/friends) and no way I want Google to have access to our photos. It's hard to say where our photos will end up online. Google might say, oh we got you covered. But, there are instances of hacking even with Google where someone can get in there and access your content without your permission. I heard of a Google engineer even scanning Gmail user emails for his own purposes, not work related. Ever since then, I have been leary of Google/Gmail.

Plus there's debate over them being fraudulent as well with Adsense...
Check this out HERE, it's a case about Google getting sued.

I don't doubt this at all and I"ve heard similar stories where a popular social network would have earnings into the tens of thousands of dollars monthly and suddenly get suspended or banned from the Adsense program. People are depending on the Adsense program for earnings and then suddenly it's gone and that's hard to recover from. For that reason, I'm wondering if maybe it's just better to find alternate ways to finance a site, (maybe in addition to any Adsense), such as direct ad sales, product sales of one's own product and affiliate sales.

What do you think? [quote]Honestly... No... All they see are the dollar signs, and how much more money they can suck out of people, by invading their privacy. Google Maps for instance... CREEPY!!! What if they took a picture of my house and you could see me naked dancing in my living room?? Not only would the people have nightmares for the rest of their lives, but what about having say in any of this? You don't have a choice in the matter. [/quote] When we first moved to our current home, Google didn't have permission to take photographs of this area as it's in a private community. But, a few weeks ago, I checked our house on Google Maps and they have an image of the top of our house (taken by satellite, I'm sure) and you can see the details of the roads around. I know all this would be available to anyone driving up our street, but it does feel like an invasion. I am not interested in someone halfway around the world, seeing any part of my house. And, what you said about not having a choice in the matter, I would want to opt out of this, but that's not an option. It creeps me out. :/ [quote] I have to remember to disconnect the internet off my phone if I'm taking pictures and keep it off until I put them on my computer, because if I don't... ALL the pictures I take automatically updates on Google, without my say so! Ewwwee... Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl...lol Blak!! PPbbffttt!![/quote] wow! That's scary! :/ I didn't realize they were nabbing the pictures like that. I'm super private, especially about photos of my family (only sharing with other family/friends) and no way I want Google to have access to our photos. It's hard to say where our photos will end up online. Google might say, oh we got you covered. But, there are instances of hacking even with Google where someone can get in there and access your content without your permission. I heard of a Google engineer even scanning Gmail user emails for his own purposes, not work related. Ever since then, I have been leary of Google/Gmail. [quote] Plus there's debate over them being fraudulent as well with Adsense... Check this out [url=http://www.cnet.com/news/new-lawsuit-accuses-google-of-adsense-fraud/]HERE[/URL], it's a case about Google getting sued.[/quote] I don't doubt this at all and I"ve heard similar stories where a popular social network would have earnings into the tens of thousands of dollars monthly and suddenly get suspended or banned from the Adsense program. People are depending on the Adsense program for earnings and then suddenly it's gone and that's hard to recover from. For that reason, I'm wondering if maybe it's just better to find alternate ways to finance a site, (maybe in addition to any Adsense), such as direct ad sales, product sales of one's own product and affiliate sales. What do you think?

11 years ago

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NaturalWriter

It's just down right manipulative in so many ways.
It's like you said "Google got you covered"... Yeah, imagine that.
They have a lot of your personal information, they have your pictures (you know just in case if something was to happen to your phone or computer, you would have "back up" pictures), they follow everyone's movements by planting cookies in your computer to track your movements, they go around and take pictures of people houses (I was at my ex-sister in-laws last year, and there was Google Maps driving up and down the streets taking pictures), they create all kinds of technology for the perverts to buy, such as Google glasses.. For those who purchase them, no babe at the beach will be safe or anything of that nature.

When it comes to the Adsense, they don't screw everyone but there have been many people effected by these "fraudulent clicks", and they lose thousands of dollars. Families who depend on that income are ripped off. @Asmodeus Has said for quite awhile that he hopes they pay for everything they've done to people. I kinda agree him...

It's difficult to know what a person should do, because websites nowadays are so dependent on Google, and Google knows this and takes it to their advantage because of their grubby money hungry privacy invading hands....lol

11 years ago

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Asmodeus

The whole idea of these big companies offering to "backup" your files in an effort to "help make your life easier" is creepy. If it's important enough to you that you feel the need to to have a backup, then simply buy an external drive (or 2, or 6, like I have), rather than to blindly hand over your important stuff to a greedy company who now has complete access to it.

I'd NEVER even remotely consider sending off my important business files to some "cloud" that is controlled by someone else. My new laptop came with a default setting to backup my files to a cloud drive automatically, which oozes invasiveness, and I had to figure out how to turn it off before doing anything.

They make these "improvements" all sound like they are done to makes our lives easier and convenient, but what it really ends up doing is slowly chipping away at our privacy, bit by bit, until we all become slaves to technology and the unethical companies who control that technology.

And Google is at the top of that pyramid...

11 years ago

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Beverly

+1 for the offline storage idea.

And, think how Google can be subpoenaed by the US federal government. Then all your private business and family documents that were uploaded (whether to the cloud or email or anywhere Google owns) are out there for anyone to take for any reason, just because some government entity decides it's time to spy on what you have going on. And, no I don't buy that "well if you aren't doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about" logic.

At some point it might be possible for a spouses in a divorce case to subpoena to gain access to private financial documents/photos/records, etc uploaded to Google. Any of that can be used in child custody cases too. Facebook status updates are already being used for this purpose.

How safe would most people feel if that were an option?

11 years ago

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elladavidson

No I really do not think that they are that ethical, but really is anyone search engine ethical?

11 years ago

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Yzabel

Google has good intentions, to provide the best search engine experience for it's users. However, the way they provide this service is sometimes wrong, especially with all the tracking and cookies imposed on users.

10 years ago

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ShyAnne

Google will do what is best for Google, especially if it means they can make more money at your expense. If that means they should invade your privacy to steal your personal browsing information or pry into your emails to read what was written there, so they can serve more 'relevant ads', then they will do so.

10 years ago

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Tandy

So ironic that the same people who complain the loudest about Google's intrusive tracking practices also own websites that set cookies.

10 years ago

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Oralie

I don't want anyone taking my picture in public and posting to the internet. And yet I know this has happened to a lot of people, thanks to Google maps. The faces might be blurred out, but some people have claimed they could be recognized. Not exactly what I would want.

10 years ago

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vinaya

What makes anyone think that Google is not an ethical company. of course Google is ethical company. Google collects your personal data such as location, IP address and your online activities. However, Google never attacks on your privacy. If you join any company as a worker, you will have to reveal about yourself, similar is the case with Google. Google has never been found to sell our personal data to other company.

8 years ago

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SEOClerks

Is Google an ethical company?