From: RobertB 

In article ,
 Gary Britt  wrote:

> How could a company run by two arabs/muslims (aren't they ?) do evil when
> the whole company was founded on the "First Do No Evil"
premise??  Or maybe
> they meant first do no evil to followers of muhammed and the hell with all
> the infidel non-muhammed followers??
>
> Gary

Ignoring the inflammatory and racist content in your reply, I believe one
of the founders is Russian. The two original founders are both
mathematicians if I'm not mistaken.


>
> RobertB wrote:
> > Yeah, I'm beginning to have my doubts about Google. Looks like they're
> > not quite as benign as everyone assumed.
> >
> >
> > In article ,
> >  "Rich Gauszka"  wrote:
> >
> >> --London-based Privacy International assigned Google its
lowest possible
> >> grade. The category is reserved for companies with
"comprehensive consumer
> >> surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy."
> >>
> >> http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070609/D8PLHML80.html
> >>
> >> SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google Inc.'s privacy practices are the
worst among
> >> the
> >> Internet's top destinations, according to a watchdog group seeking to
> >> intensify the recent focus on how the online search leader handles
> >> personal
> >> information about its users.
> >>
> >> In a report released Saturday, London-based Privacy
International assigned
> >> Google its lowest possible grade. The category is reserved
for companies
> >> with "comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched
hostility to
> >> privacy."
> >>
> >> None of the 22 other surveyed companies - a group that
included Yahoo Inc.
> >> ,
> >> Microsoft Corp. and AOL - sunk to that level, according to Privacy
> >> International.
> >>
> >> While a number of other Internet companies have troubling
policies, none
> >> comes as close to Google to "achieving status as an
endemic threat to
> >> privacy," Privacy International said in an explanation
of its findings.
> >>
> >> In a statement from one of its lawyers, Google said it aggressively
> >> protects
> >> its users' privacy and stands behind its track record. In its most
> >> conspicuous defense of user privacy, Google last year
successfully fought
> >> a
> >> U.S. Justice Department subpoena demanding to review millions of search
> >> requests.
> >>
> >> "We are disappointed with Privacy International's
report, which is based
> >> on
> >> numerous inaccuracies and misunderstandings about our
services," said
> >> Nicole
> >> Wong, Google's deputy general counsel.
> >>
> >> "It's a shame that Privacy International decided to
publish its report
> >> before we had an opportunity to discuss our privacy practices
with them."
> >>
> >> Privacy International contacted Google earlier this month, but didn't
> >> receive a response, said Simon Davies, the group's director.
> >>
> >> The scathing report is just the latest strike aimed at Google's privacy
> >> practices.
> >>
> >> An independent European panel recently opened an inquiry into whether
> >> Google's policies abide by Europe's privacy rules.
> >>
> >> Meanwhile, three consumer groups in the United States are
pressuring the
> >> nation's regulators to make Google change some of its privacy
policies as
> >> part of its proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of online ad service
> >> DoubleClick Inc., which also tracks Web surfers' behavior.
> >>
> >> The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is looking into antitrust concerns
> >> raised
> >> by the DoubleClick deal, but has not indicated if privacy
issues will be
> >> part of the inquiry.
> >>
> >> Hoping to placate its critics, Google has pledged to begin erasing the
> >> information about users' search requests within 18 to 24 months.
> >>
> >> The company says its stockpiles data to help its search engine better
> >> understand its users so it can deliver more relevant results and
> >> advertisements.
> >>
> >> As Google becomes more knowledgeable about the people relying on its
> >> search
> >> engine and other free services, management hopes to develop more tools
> >> that
> >> recommend activities and other pursuits that might appeal to individual
> >> users.
> >>
> >> Privacy International is particularly troubled by Google's ability to
> >> match
> >> data gathered by its search engine with information collected
from other
> >> services such as e-mail, instant messaging and maps.
> >>
> >> "Under the microscope, it turns out that Google is doing
much more with
> >> our
> >> data than we ever imagined," Davies said.
> >>
> >> Founded in 1990, Privacy International said it reached its preliminary
> >> findings after spending the past six months reviewing Internet privacy
> >> practices with the help of about 30 professors, mostly in the United
> >> States
> >> and United Kingdom. The group plans to update the report in September.
> >>
> >> Seven of the Internet companies and Web sites included in Privacy
> >> International's analysis received the second lowest grade of
"substantial
> >> and comprehensive privacy threats." This group included:
Time Warner
> >> Inc.'s
> >> AOL, Apple Inc. ,Facebook.com, Hi5.com, Reunion.com,
Microsoft's Windows
> >> Live Space and Yahoo.
> >>
> >> None of the companies or sites received Privacy
International's top grade,
> >> but five rated as "generally privacy-aware." They
were: BBC, eBay Inc.
> >> Last.fm, LiveJournal.com, and Wikipedia.com.

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