Is Google becoming Big Brother?

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Thursday, February 16, 2012 - 10:32 AM Share

Quote of the day, from a very good article by Richard Falkenrath in the Financial Times:

Google, by gaining the consent of its users in the form of a quick tick, has secured the power to build an electronic surveillance apparatus that far exceeds anything the Bush administration tried to do.… The potential is vast. For instance, Gmail has a contact-tracking feature, which integrates with Picasa, its free product for managing digital photographs. Picasa has a tagging feature that can tell Google where and when photographs were taken, and an advanced facial recognition feature that allows Google to identify individuals it has seen in one photo in any photo in the user's digital library. Integrating just these three services with Google's core search function could allow Google to locate individuals in virtually any digital photograph on the internet, and so derive where each user has been, when, with whom and doing what. Add YouTube to the mix, or Android smartphones, or whatever other database Google develops or buys -- the implications are breathtaking.

To remedy this problem, Falkenrath advocates adding a new "right to be forgotten" to laws protecting privacy. He predicts that companies such as Facebook and Google that profit by monetizing data on people would fight this fiercely. Unfortunately, given their financial strength, plus the power of the California congressional delegation, I think they would succeed in putting down any such legislation.

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DILNIR

4:29 PM ET

February 16, 2012

And Where Is

Room 101?

TOM RICKS

4:47 PM ET

February 16, 2012

Just Google it

Seriously, it could be anywhere. It is more a state of mind than a place--wherever your greatest fears reside.
Best,
Tom

JPWREL

5:06 PM ET

February 16, 2012

Well, one thing I can say is

Well, one thing I can say is that as an amateur military historian I use 'Google Earth' extensively to explore the original sites of conflict as they appear today. As an example, in map studies of the First World War it is amazingly helpful to be able to literally not only get a birds eye view of the terrain features but to 'land' on the ground and explore the terrain and often the same structures existing at the time of battle.

In Europe unlike here in the United States much of the rural area remains almost virtually untouched from history because they do not seem to relish obliterating their landscape with bedroom communities and ugly strip malls. Even areas going back Caesars campaigns bear up to modern scrutiny and prominent terrain features are very recognizable.

For instance, from my Arizona based iMac using Google’s ‘Street View’ I am able to explore the 1918 battle ground around Villers-Bretonneux and that adds a whole new dimension to understanding the battle in a more three dimensional manner. In fact using this Google Earth feature one can easily detect from descriptive first hand accounts precise locations that is akin to walking a battlefield like Antietam with books in hand.

Go to the South Pacific and explore the ground and sea approaches at Guadalcanal and you will discover a new appreciation for the most interesting campaign of the Pacific War. It will give you (even thought there is no ‘Street View’ in this location) a better feel for the formidable geography of not only that island but also the Solomon’s as a whole.

PEARPANDAS

6:49 PM ET

February 16, 2012

Google

Google does not have this kind of power or face recognition technology. And if you don't want Google or Facebook to have your face/information do not sign up for them. It is not that difficult! They are not forcing you to sign up! Also can you imagine the man power in trying to figure out where everyone has been all the time?

CAPT.TEACH

10:52 PM ET

February 16, 2012

Google & Facebook

Looking for their 15 minutes of fame on Facebook has compromised their personal information as well as their friends and family. Then Googling away everyday , all day...more information of ones interest and habits. Leaves us in a state of insanity?

Go back 76 yrs and the opportunity to monitor the populace with such easy and willing cooperation from the masses would have be but a dream to Joseph Goebbels.
"The Third Reich was not a dictatorship maintained by force. Indeed, the Nazi leadership developed an almost fearful preoccupation with the mood of the populace, which they monitored carefully, devoting considerable energy and resources toward fulfilling consumer desires, even to the detriment of the country's rearmament program. After many years of civil strife, class hatred, and political obstructionism, Germans were united in their yearning for popular community." Moving on to WW II.
Now how do we unplug from this information tapping!

To voluntarily give up your privacy on such a massive scale is insanity.

BERTRAMDICKSON

6:22 AM ET

March 15, 2012

In Europe unlike here in the

In Europe unlike here in the United States much of the rural area remains almost virtually untouched from history because they do not seem to relish obliterating their landscape with bedroom homerenovation communities and ugly strip malls. Even areas going back Caesars campaigns bear up to modern scrutiny and prominent terrain features are very recognizable.