Rants Tagged with “Privacy”
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I usually am not one of those tinfoil hat guys, but the Google Chrome Privacy Policy says that anything I do with the browser is sent to Google with a browser unique id attached to it. From their privacy policy (emphasis added by me):
When you type URLs or queries in the address bar, the letters you type are sent to Google so the Suggest feature can automatically recommend terms or URLs you may be looking for. If you choose to share usage statistics with Google and you accept a suggested query or URL, Google Chrome will send that information to Google as well. You can disable this feature as explained here.
If you navigate to a URL that does not exist, Google Chrome may send the URL to Google so we can help you find the URL you were looking for. You can disable this feature as explained here.
Google Chrome's SafeBrowsing feature periodically contacts Google's servers to download the most recent list of known phishing and malware sites. In addition, when you visit a site that we think could be a phishing or malware site, your browser will send Google a hashed, partial copy of the site's URL so that we can send more information about the risky URL. Google cannot determine the real URL you are visiting from this information. More information about how this works is here.
Your copy of Google Chrome includes one or more unique application numbers. These numbers and information about your installation of the browser (e.g., version number, language) will be sent to Google when you first install and use it and when Google Chrome automatically checks for updates. If you choose to send usage statistics and crash reports to Google, the browser will send us this information along with a unique application number as well. Crash reports can contain information from files, applications and services that were running at the time of a malfunction. We use crash reports to diagnose and try to fix any problems with the browser.
You supposed to be able to disable it, but this is where you can disable the address bar suggestion on my machine:
Can be disabled for me. Hopefully its a bug. Even if you can disable it all, but its not obvious to me in the browser how to do it, only by reading the privacy policy. Back to IE for me.
Bare Naked Ladies are selling their new album in MP3 and FLAC on their website. If you want their new album and want to put it to the man at the same time...check it out!
I was installing the new Google Earth when I noticed that Google is becoming Yahoo/Real/Microsoft these days. Why can't we just have options in your setups that don't try and cross-promote? Its cheap and makes me lose faith in companies.
This is just like the "Do you want to install the Yahoo Toolbar" that has snuck itself into every shareware/free app i've installed in the last year. If you are going to insist on this kind of promotion, you should make it off by default. Putting these sorts of options with the hope that the user isn't paying attention and just pressed Finish without reading sucks.
Bad Google...no gmail...
I had a chance encounter today with the fact that my cell phone records are up for sale to anyone with $110 burning a hole in their pocket. I have to say I am outraged. I can't believe that cell phone companies can sell a record of anyone I call. It makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it. Anyone else have experience where your cell phone records have been used?
(UPDATE)
Evidently I am not the only one concerned. Here's a CNET article about a congressional hearing about it:
http://news.com.com/Congress+quizzes+phone+records+brokers/2100-1028_3-6034824.html?tag=nefd.top
Now that Verizon has been ordered to rat out their users to the RIAA,
Internet privacy is over...but maybe for the better. Sure I loved the
high-flying days of song swapping, but where is the line between privacy and
intrusion.
When the headlines are about catching file sharing violations, many people
are in an uproar. But several weeks ago when those same ISP's gave up their
user's names who were surfing child porn sites...we all applauded.
I am not bright enough to know where the line should be drawn but I would
rather give up sharing files anonymously and stop child pornography. Maybe
Internet anonymity isn't gone for good, but for now lets err on the side of
caution instead of the side of freedom.
All replies welcome, especially any that include the phrase "slippery slope".
: )
