I for one don't give a shit if Google tracks me

[Orrex]

First of all, I sort of assumed that they were doing so already, so what's the difference?

Second, I have never once clicked on an online ad. Not once in ~17+ years online. So why should I care if they target me with ads based on the sites I've visited?


What are your concerns?

[Newest Reality]

1. I find myself

concerned with the idea that I cannot foresee the long-term implications of having my behavior and thoughts monitored and recorded indefinitely.

In an increasingly surveillance-oriented environment where a virtual panopticon of high-tech tools are utilized to invade and erode the boundaries of what is considered personal and/or private, I would rather err on the side of caution.

We are in the midst of a growing infrastructure of aggregation with centralized and networked data acquisition. Without strong checks and balances, (and transparency about the information and how it is used) as well as a means to access and control what is gathered about our personal lives, there are some issues for concern, considering the current impact of background data for jobs, insurance, etc.

As long as there is an increasing stratification of this society and a growing underclass, it is safe to assume that the information gathered may not have positive implications if we are not conforming to a standardized, and even authoritarian, definition of behavior and reality.

[siligut]

4. I talked to the guy who did bio-statistics for Boeing

And he agrees with you, there are unforeseeable long-term implications.

[snagglepuss]

15. A simple solution might be to google/visit RW sites, religious sites, gun sites, polka sites

etc, etc and subscribe to free newsletters, sending them to an email address set up just for that purpose.

[LynneSin]

2. Someone will find out my fetish for kitty porn

Even my boy Abbott has done kitty porn


I big fluffy kitty bellies!!!

[Major Nikon]

5. Voyeur kitty porn

[tabbycat31]

11. I like your kitty porn

[HopeHoops]

3. They might find out I secretly visit Republican sites when my wife's sleeping!!!!

[Major Nikon]

6. I always suspected you were a closet freeper

[LynneSin]

8. I always suspected he was from Perry County

[HopeHoops]

9. I've NEVER lived in Perry County (but have driven through it).

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. K

[pokerfan]

10. why you should care about digital privacy

I realize this is the lounge but here's a serious answer...

By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
msnbc.com

"The problem for privacy is that there hasn't been the equivalent of a two-headed fish yet," he said. "It's more like we're saying there's stuff in the lake that might kill you in 10 years." There have been widespread leaks of customer data, and there's been millions of identity theft victims. Still, it's hard to equate any privacy disaster so far with closed beaches or poisoned wildlife.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41995926/ns/technology_and_science/t/why-should-i-care-about-digital-privacy/

[Orrex]

14. I believe there are different thresholds of digital privacy, though

If Google makes note of my time spent on cracked.com followed by my brief visit to amazon.com, I don't see much to get upset about.

If they track my banking transactions, then that's another matter.


But tracking cookies have already been in use for decades and easily accessible to websites that wish to exploit them.

[pintobean]

12. Would it be ok in real life?

Corporation X puts a GPS devise on your vehicle and tracks you -
Where you shop
Who your friends are
Hobbies and interests
What you do out of the ordinary

They would only do it to make life more personalized and enjoyable.

[Orrex]

13. It *is* real life.

And it's been happening for many years, whether or not NPR has been reporting on it.

The information that you describe is pretty much freely available to anybody who cares to look for it, and it has been so for quite a while. That's true about me, about you, and about the person sitting across the parking lot watching me through binoculars.

Google isn't really gathering any new information about you; they're simply correlating the data differently.