Tell Us: Do you think you are Being Trapped by Google?

By Aamir Attaa | 11, Feb 2010 | 43 Comments

Google Tell Us: Do you think you are Being Trapped by Google?

Google has become an essential part of our online lives. Gmail, Google Docs, Search Engine, Feed Reader, Maps, Google Earth, YouTube and What Not?

I am not doubting the ease this single company has brought to our lives, but at the same ever you thought that Google stores all the activities you do on internet, for instance, what searches you did, emails you send, your mobile number and much much more – there is a huge list we can make. For a sneak peak, find out what information Google stores about you by clicking this link: https://www.google.com/dashboard/

There are good chances that Google knows that you are looking for admission in a medical college in Abbotabad, or maybe it knows well that you are preparing a research report on a particular topic for your degree project or even it may know your medical history as well.

Instead of commenting further – we want to hear from you in comments, and question is

“Ever you thought that Google knows too much about you? If not, are you thinking the same now? What’s in your mind – say it” (Silent Readers are also requested for input)

Expect a follow up post on the same topic – but first, we want to listen you.

Sohail

Google knows more about us than we can think of.

If they run some sort of analytical tool on our searches, they can predict everything about our habits, behaviour, likes and dislikes etc…

If at some time they publish a tag cloud of your activites, you will be amazed to see what you have been doing most of the times in ur internet life :)
Mustafa

You know its kind of strange… for a while now stuff like this is showing up… first it was Facebook… it know too much and this and that…. now Google… its like a syndrome people have developed or are the people of this age too paranoid? =S… I mean there was a time you’d blame it all on the NSA.. CIA… etc etc…
I don’t disagree with the idea… but in a country like Pakistan… i really don’t think it matters much!
http://propakistani.pk Muhammad Zohair Chohan

Muhahaaaa! Google is going to become Skynet (An artificially Intelligent system which became self-aware and revolted against its creators in Terminator Movies) :P
- Imran Latif
  
  Have u ever seen a movie called EPIC 2015, if not then search it and have a look at it you’ll get an idea what google will be in coming years, this short film was released in 2005 or 2006 but many of the described things are possible in current perspective.
http://aali.openehut.com aalishan

US Govt. use google apps, that means they have access to US Govt data, so can we complain about our data being stored with them?
(watch “google toilet” video)
http://www.frokht.com Ahmed Ali

lol @ zuhair…Well I partly agree with mustafa. how many of us would actually care about this, considering the ease provided by Google.
admin

Pretty interesting feedback we are getting, not in high numbers though, what i can see is that you folks are somewhat concerned about the information you have stored at Google Servers.

You also fear that it may create some problem, some day. However, as i see, this fear is overshadowed by the benefits this Google has given you.

@above – if we can’t do individually, if Government, those useless local think tanks should start thinking over it? Maybe some day our Government can come up with a similar service, where we can trust that data is not with out siders?

A dream, in deed, but don’t we dream for so many other things…!
Ahmad

Google knows what we want google to know, so i dont think there is anything special in it..
Efzal

In 2020 they are starting “Search my Mind” for which they are preparing all these gadgets, email & searches. That means more privacy related issues to come up in the future.
Smiling Angel

I agreed. I have read an article some time back in which the immigration personnel at LA Airport detained few people and asked them why they visit such and such websites and places. etc. It doesn’t matter where you live. But the data can be used against you any later time in the future.
Hami

well as i know everything like that google knows whats your name where you live what you search what you have in your inbox what you search on the map and if you get directions what directions you asked for where you have gone or intended to go.what are your landmarks what is your position. latitude longitude. google documents what you want to share or make what sort of professional you are either you are student or the damn business. if you are on orkut what kind of friend circle you have . how have you described your about me and what kind of person are you . google searches knows what kind of personality you have you see the porn or search like a innocent human being. if you are searching free copyrighted films then they know how you are breaking the law and if you are finding software they also knows that . youtube what kind of activities you do in ur life and you want to share it. which nation is good in what they know south asians steal most of the songs from youtube so they blocked the pakistan india bangladesh. now new buzz is google buzz so if you are a everyday user like me you will buzz like good morning people.. damn it was worst day … bla bla so they can know the person what kind of activities they do by geographically by nation wise by age by etc etc

they can benefit themselves in many things like:

1) They can sell the information to 3rd party for research and make millions
2) They can sell in to intelligence or they can work for the intelligence to track some major people around the world
3) Since google is biggest search engine they can block the websites which do not opt adsense or adword means there will be low traffic to these websites :)
4) Google labs what is it .. obviously they do experiments basis of what may be your or mine data :) is researched
Originative

Google to me wants to become “Skynet” (the one in terminator) … and at least i do not want this to happen… for this i do not provide/share/save data on google/facebook/ or another service, i always provide fake info and i think this is the solution by using there services and maintain you privacy… and also by avoiding cross site logins :)
JoLLy bRaVo

and now they hav launched Google Wave and Google Buzz yesterday (similar to Twitter) all embedded in gmail
Hami Abro

Google knows
1. whats your name ?
2. where you live ?
3. what you searched?
4. what you have in your inbox?
5. what you search on the map ?
6. what directions you asked for?
7. where you have gone or intended to go?
8. what are your landmarks ?
9. what is your position?latitude longitude etc

Google documents knows:
1. what sort of business you have?
2. what sort of professional you are or student

Orkut knows

1. what kind of friends circle you have? .
2. how have you described your about me?
3. what kind of person are you?
4. What kind of communities you join? .

Google search knows
1. what kind of attitude you have on internet.
2. if you are searching free copyrighted films then they know how you are breaking the law and if you are finding software they also knows that

Youtube knows
1. what kind of activities you do in ur life and you want to share it.
2. which nation is good in what they know south asians steal most of the songs from youtube so they blocked the pakistan india bangladesh.

now new buzz is google buzz so if you are a everyday user like me you will buzz like good morning people.. damn it was worst day … bla bla so they can know the person what kind of activities they do by geographically by nation wise by age by etc etc

they can benefit themselves in many things like:

1) They can sell the information to 3rd party for research and make millions
2) They can sell in to intelligence or they can work for the intelligence to track some major people around the world
3) Since google is biggest search engine they can block the websites which do not opt adsense or adword means there will be low traffic to these websites :)
4) Google labs what is it .. obviously they do experiments basis of what may be your or mine data :) is researched
5) They can promote piracy and may ask for money to real software houses

Google andriod platform or Cellphones

They may know the activity you do like sms, voice call, videos bla bla they can steal the log of the phone having ur activities recorded

Google Calender

they know what you are? what you want to do in comming days

Blogger – blogspot

They know what kind of hobbies the particular person has

If someone have business on the internet they will know the traffic they may know the amount particular person is making

Gmail knows

what your inbox have and what is spam what you like what are your friend clients bla bla

so if we summarize it in 3 three words we will say

They Know Everything

and yeah my email is on gmail so they might know what i have wrote here lol
http://www.infopakistan.pk K. Shahzad

I have seen this issue being raised on many platforms and it did not end here, this is just beginning. The big G have some other methods too, when ever an adsense or double-Click ad is seen on any website it leaves a tracking cookie in our browsers which than keeps tracking all our browsing even the things which are not related to their own website.

If you know they two to three years ago they had told all adsense publishers to change their privacy policy on their sites that adsense and double click are now tracking everything that a user is doing.

Same is the reason that latest antiviruses block the cookies from adsense or doubleclick.

Means google knows about all the activity you do on internet, more than we can imagine.

Then again this may be the step towards the web 3.0 which is going to be most challenging thing and google as being the futuristic company doing all above to cope with that thing.

According the web 3.0 the sites will know much more about user from previous searches and browsing and will return the results in specific context in which a user have searched something.

e.g. A professional photographer who have been searching for some pro-cams when searches next time system from previous experience is going to show the high end cam results, but for a person like me it will be showing the normal cams, e.g. handy cams, cam-coders etc.

I hope it helps and I have been able to convey my point!
http://www.frokht.com Ahmed Ali

@ Abro :hahahha…very impressive..:)

But again, what if they know everything?? As long as one is not guilty of any wrong doing, he/she should not worry.
abdulrehman

but the question is how did google effect us????
http://techgoss.com Bala

Hello everyone.

What is equally important is how Google supresses reports from Pakistan while releasing it about other countries

http://www.techgoss.com/Story/284S11-Why-is-Google-suppressing-report-for-Pakistan-.aspx
superman

I strongly agree with the notion that users are trading their privacy for the value of information that Google provides and you never know when Google will change their mantra from “Do No Evil” to “Do All Evil”. One day the sweet talk of Google will come to an end as it has given us a hint with their stance on China. Google’s entry to China was with the agreement that it will abide by the rules dictated to it by the Government of China. But now that Google has achieved popularity there, they are threatening to discard all the operation if the Government is filtering the search results, etc.

Consider this statement by the CEO of Google, Eric Schidmt “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines — including Google — do retain this information for some time and it’s important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities.”

Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power even if we have nothing to hide. It is not about “security versus privacy” rather it should be “liberty versus control”. Liberty requires security without intrusion and that is why we should vote for privacy all the time.
Saad chdhry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrontojPWEE
Mustafa

OK… so the final verdict is ..” When in doubt.. DO NOT Google it!” eh?? =/
Messi

Google should not be blamed… its us… the end user(supperr lazyyy)… we just want the ease of use… we want everything in one place… mail..news…frndzz..etc.. (i knw i do).. Google takes advantage… give them credit a search engine company… takes the whole web… i have administrd a couple of sites and used google friend connect widgets… people love ‘em on blogs and sites…

Didn’t you watch eagle eye… that computer thing said… it analyzes evrything u do on the intrnet to make ur personailty profile.. and frankly when they have each and everything the need about u… they can hit you were it hurts…

btw… the skynet thing is pretty comical and interesting
http://www.pkitforum.com you

well we can consider google as a big hacker :D
Ac3r

I trust Google…

Google your best friend…
http://sms4smile.com/category/love-sms/ Najam

google even knows if you have a website and you sell precomposed essays to college student,

hhehehe, I conclude and assume this after I read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-greenspan/why-google-bothered-to-ap_b_213176.html
http://ihatesasugay.wordpress.com Ahsan

ok i know this is a concerning question but i dont think any of this matter if you live in pakistan ;) you gotta think of other things first :)

lol at some of the other comments from zohair and chauhan and the biggest lol at supermans comment man LOLLLLLLLLLLLL do all evil xD you guys are all fu*** crazy no hard feelings :)

aammir bhai pehli dafa aap ke blog pe comment kar raha hoon …. i love your blog it keeps me in touch with the latest news …. but seriously this question was lame to ask to pakistani people …. the keyword being pakistani :) ….. because we just arent melodramatic fools :D
- admin
  
  Thanks bro – for commenting : – )
  
  Look, i agree that Pakistanis have lot more other concerns to resolve first, but this is pretty lame to overlook just coz we have other problems too. Let’s work in parallel bro
  - Tahoo
    
    But 3 people use ONE ip daily … so what can they dig up on an indiviual ..?? ehh ..!!!
http://www.cyberdera.com umair

I personally think human nature is selfishness and that is what democracy and Free economy is best at. Google is doing what any company or person would try to do .. grow and transcend. So i think its good that google is growing and vertically integrating its services trying to become a bigger part of our life. Something companies especially brands in Pakistan badly need to learn
omerfarooq

Going to change my search engine now to Yahoo-lol!
Imran

Gathering info about about me is not something to worry about given the ease which google has provided to us. I would love it more if it gives something helpful regarding my research topic which I m frantically googling nowadays. Really in Love and addicted to Google. It is way ahead than Yahoo or Hotmail likes.
M Haseeb Asif

they have our only information that we share with them online like searching etc,
now they introduce two new traps like Google Wave, Buzz
Khurram Zahid

not only google, facebook also knows a lot about you, when you update your status or update your photographs, everything facebook stores about you…one school of thought says it’s a game plan of Jews and freemasons to know what muslims have been doing and capture their mind after knowing all the facts and habits about the muslims…
- http://propakistani.pk unis khan
  
  that is 100% true and i don’t think that these companies are privately owned they are most likely owned by the U.S govt.
a m malik

There is no free lunch – which the US fellows believe in. So on the one hand free google services are being used but on the other we in do not want google to contain our info. I would be a fool if I am Google and I do not do it what Google does. But then a note of curiosity. If Google can track our addresses then why have they failed in case of Osama and the other shenigans when they send their professed achievements through internet?
Corporate Wars

hey,
thanks to you all, i just noticed that whenever, where ever i click, the status bar of my firefox connects to google-Analytics for a brief moment, before the link opens.. did you notci that :)

the problem is.. my search can only concern google if it is worth some thing,.. if it is.. i should get paid…

so why free lunch for google!! who gave them the right.. to report anything to google analytic, with out asking me..

you know it is pretty much sue able in US court of law.. any volunteers?? ;)
a m malik

Dear Corporate Wars one can only sue if it is known that google does what it is not supposed to do. Should such be the case then the entire FBI working in cohoots with our CIA installed jokers could be sued for illegally kidnapping many Pakistanis and in particular Dr Afia Siddiqui who has been a casuality of a biased jury.
Imran Latif

The only solution to this problem is to stop using the internet, smart phones, TV, Radio and everything. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA then nobody would be able to track you profile you and abuse you.
Cyko

Anyway guys
China has blocked youtube, Facebook, Twitter, WordPress and thousands of Por* Sites…..and various other sites

Why is that so ?
p4r4di$3

Well, Google LOGS you, google tracks you like a spy, google keeps an eye on you …. google collects your personal information, google gathers everything they need for future, they have your cell number your address your IP your name bla bla bla everything…. they have more then 998200 PB of data just full of users!!! ……. Anyway, i love google.com …. what can they do to me? Kill me? So what? What after then? I am not afraid lol…. But i just keep on GOOOOGLINGGGGGGGGG!!!
p4r4di$3

Agar main Govt. of Pakistan ki company PTCL main hota to main tamam Traffic jo MPLS k through ati aur jati he wahan PureSight laga deta, google for PureSight to get info!! We can block anything without interception!!
Danish Khan

I think this is very serious.
Every thing we do on net is being recorded.

I think we should limit ourselves up to an extent and should not get too much involved online life.
Islamuddin

no doubt in that i think Google even know that who ur class fellows are or who ur parents r by the recent launch of +. Google is essential part of our online life nowadays so it is logical to think or assume that google knows pretty much every thing we do online.