Google made lots of people use their products by abusing their monopoly and ensuring the alternatives are very limited. The EU has five Antitrust/Cartel cases involving Google.
The issue with the Location data, is not that they are storing it. The issue is that they are still storing it after people think they have opted out. This is done via a set of options that are confusing to me as a chap with 20+ years programming experience. What chance does a layman have of working it out?
Location data is particularly sensitive. It can be used for spying, squashing political decent, black-mail, stalking and lots of other bad things.
Google hasn't been hacked yet, or have they? But it's like the Nuclear thing, it is very safe for decades until that one time when it isn't. Given the scale of Google's operation, if they do get breached it is going to be very bad.
For this information to be used in bad ways, Google don't even have to be hacked. A bad government could simply change the law and require it to be handed over, credit reference agencies or insurance companies could simply buy it. "I'm sorry sir, we are going to double your car insurance this year because Google say you drive through a dodgy area."
Google don't even need to give this information to anyone else for it to be used in a bad way. I don't think they were involved in the whole issue of targeting people that visited hospital ER departments, but they certainly have that ability. All the while Google are profitable they are going to tow a more moral path, but if they start having years of low profits the ability to resist temptation changes.
Lastly I expect Google could still make enough money to cover their operations by selling un-targeted ads. TV companies have been doing that for a long time.
I live in the EU, and I definitely don't agree with the EU and all their fines. The whole Google Shopping results hurt other companies is super far stretched in my opinion. They made Google Search, so I believe they have all the rights to show their Google Shopping service first. It really wasn't as bad as they made it look.
Also, all the changes in the cookie laws and all that stuff are only annoying in my opinion. Every site I go to now has like 3 popups about cookies and new data protection laws. I get that they make these laws to "protect the citizens of the EU", but I'd rather not have them.
Also, I'm not entirely sure they could make enough money selling targeted ads, because I think the only reason people use Google AdWords is because it's targeted so well.
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Google made lots of people use their products by abusing their monopoly and ensuring the alternatives are very limited. The EU has five Antitrust/Cartel cases involving Google.
The issue with the Location data, is not that they are storing it. The issue is that they are still storing it after people think they have opted out. This is done via a set of options that are confusing to me as a chap with 20+ years programming experience. What chance does a layman have of working it out?
Location data is particularly sensitive. It can be used for spying, squashing political decent, black-mail, stalking and lots of other bad things.
Google hasn't been hacked yet, or have they? But it's like the Nuclear thing, it is very safe for decades until that one time when it isn't. Given the scale of Google's operation, if they do get breached it is going to be very bad.
For this information to be used in bad ways, Google don't even have to be hacked. A bad government could simply change the law and require it to be handed over, credit reference agencies or insurance companies could simply buy it. "I'm sorry sir, we are going to double your car insurance this year because Google say you drive through a dodgy area."
Google don't even need to give this information to anyone else for it to be used in a bad way. I don't think they were involved in the whole issue of targeting people that visited hospital ER departments, but they certainly have that ability. All the while Google are profitable they are going to tow a more moral path, but if they start having years of low profits the ability to resist temptation changes.
Lastly I expect Google could still make enough money to cover their operations by selling un-targeted ads. TV companies have been doing that for a long time.
I live in the EU, and I definitely don't agree with the EU and all their fines. The whole Google Shopping results hurt other companies is super far stretched in my opinion. They made Google Search, so I believe they have all the rights to show their Google Shopping service first. It really wasn't as bad as they made it look.
Also, all the changes in the cookie laws and all that stuff are only annoying in my opinion. Every site I go to now has like 3 popups about cookies and new data protection laws. I get that they make these laws to "protect the citizens of the EU", but I'd rather not have them.
Also, I'm not entirely sure they could make enough money selling targeted ads, because I think the only reason people use Google AdWords is because it's targeted so well.