From: Gary Britt 

Hooked a second fish.  See my reply to Rich G.

Gary

RobertB wrote:
> 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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