Quote:
Originally Posted by hoverfly
TD: People used to get paranoid about Bill Gates and his cronies taking over the world, I think it is high time to change that old tune and worry more, a lot more about Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
Long gone are the days when Google was a search engine, Apple a manufacturer of consumer electronics, Amazon a mere retailer and Facebook a social network. These days it is more of a case of them having expanded into every little nook and cranny, businesswise, that can possibly imagine. So much so in fact, that soon, there will be little internet trafic that doesn't have to go through one of their servers for just that extra bit of filtering.
As I said in my original post, Google already has the power over who makes it in business and who doesn't, just by their placement in search results. I am not saying they are doing it but as we all know and history teaches us, if it can be done....
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'Do no evil' used to be Google's moto. So much for that...
Most people don't know or realize it but their never was any privacy on the net. From the very beginning, the second you're connected, you're traceable and trackable. This is normal too as it comes from the technology that connects it all. If you want a specific page, the server needs to know where to send it for you to see it.
But nowadays, it goes far beyond that. Those companies you mentioned and many others are actually embedding even more sophisticated ways to track you, store this data and share it with others. If these initiatives were up front and honest, telling you they are doing that and asking you before hand if you want to participate, I'd have no qualm about it. The problem is that not only they don't tell you, but they actually hide these tracking devices as much as they can and it is almost impossible to detect/stop/circumvent them.
This goes even further than the net. Just look at iPhones who 'phone home' back to Apple where your current location gets stored in a database.
If you don't believe all this, have a look at
PrivacyChoice - Making privacy easier. It will give you some hints.
If you are using Firefox and want to be flaberghasted by a visual representation of who is tracking you, go there
https://secure.toolness.com/xpi/collusion.html, install the addon, let it run while you do your usual surfing and you'll be amazed.
Happy surfing, and beware, especially those 'Like' buttons.