From: Gary Britt 

Obviously is write.  Where in the hell did I get the idea they were
arab/muslims??  I guess I've been carrying water for the Bush
administration too long.

BTW, while I did really think the founders were arab/muslim my post below
was tongue in cheek.  I figured it would get somebody riled uo 

Gary

Rich Gauszka wrote:
> Obvioulsy you have no facts to back that up.  The Google founders are Sergey
> Brin and Larry Page. Sergey is Jewish
>
> http://www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2007/2007-02/200702-BrinFeature.html
>
>
>   "Gary Britt"  wrote in message vio
> news:466c402a$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> 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
>>
>> 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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