Don't Be Evil?

So it's March 1st. An important date not only for the Welsh - Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i bawb! - but also for Google, as they launch their new privacy policy on the far-too-suspecting public. I was sent a great link to an article yesterday, "Eight reasons to fear Google", which actually made me first start to really think about all this information sharing malarky. Google's new policy has been spoken about, debated and discussed all over the internet for a few weeks now, but the date is here and it's going ahead despite grave concerns from the EU regarding its lawfulness. Google care not, it seems, and have ploughed full steam ahead with their plans to share information from a single Google account across their 60 services, including Gmail, YouTube and Blogger. Having not blogged for a while, I had to wade through the entire privacy policy in full before I could accept it and sign in to write this. It seems rather more innocent than the outrage posted across forums would suggest, but then I didn't have the patience to read it fully. According to Google, this new policy of gathering, collating and sharing personal data will make it "Easy to work across Google", "Easy to share and collaborate", and ensure that services (ads, presumably) are "Tailored for you". Sounds innocuous enough, really. And where's the harm in cross-platform information sharing within a corporation/ group of companies? After all, Google don't sell the information they gather, so it remains with them for their own use. You can follow Google's own advice to protect your privacy, such as altering dashboard settings and deleting browsing history. And if you don't like it, there are alternatives to using Google, so opt out. But the problems have already begun. Google are guilty of tracking web-browsing habits of millions of iPhone users without their consent, and Microsoft have accused them of bypassing Internet Explorer's privacy protection. It seems that many android users also require Googlemail accounts, and so are unable to opt out. People who use the Google Wallet app to store credit card details to purchase at the tap of a finger must be aware by now that Google keep records of what they buy, where they buy it from and how often they buy. For a corporation whose mantra is "Don't be evil", Google is attracting a lot of negative attention.

But privacy issues don't just affect Google users. Facebook is also experiencing issues with its determination to impose the new timeline on account holders, where nothing is deleted and everybody's updates, comments and photos are available for viewing in chronological order. No more hiding that misspelled slag-off post about your boss after you staggered in late from another works do and he's offended you. The trouble with social media is that employers (or potential employers) are as savvy about it as your mates, and can easily have a look for you on Facebook, or follow your Tweets, to find out more about you. There have been a few stories in the past year of teachers, particularly, ending up in hot water over social networking posts and photos - whether deservedly or not - and at least one who lost her job over ill thought-out Tweets to students, which were reported to the school board and read by her bosses. Facebook have been slammed for their "Facebook for mobiles" app, which could potentially collect data from texts to sell on to third parties - all with users' permission, if you agree to the long-winded and rarely read Ts&Cs. Worrying, isn't it?

We all know that if you post something stupid on Facebook or Twitter, chances are it might come back to bite us. If, for example, someone looking to join the police force posts of an illegal activity on Facebook, could it come to light if the wrong person sees it, scuppering their chances of a career in the force? I KNOW that teachers, for example, have the right to privacy and to be able to chat to their mates on Facebook or Twitter, but when they choose to have parents and/or pupils as "friends" or followers, then they need to make sure their content is appropriate for their audience. Slagging off parents or making lewd comments to students, for example, is not only inappropriate but intensely unprofessional, and yet is done because people don't seem to realise, or appreciate, the power of the written word and how it makes them come across to other people.

But back to the privacy (or lack thereof) laws - what does it mean for us? As far as I can see, very little right now. The concern is that, in future, will Google follow the Facebook route of collating information with the intent of selling it onto third parties for whatever revenue-generating reason it can think of? At present, we have companies in the UK who track our spending habits in order to build credit profiles, available on application to lenders who use it to assess our suitability for mortgages and credit cards, as well as to potential employers for whom a credit check is necessary. What if someone decides to create a service whereby potential employers can buy a "social media and web credit check" - to see what candidates post on social networking sites, how they behave, their web history, their online purchases - in order to assess whether the person might be a valuable employee or merely a porn-surfing, excessive shoe purchasing drunkard with a penchant for posting photos of themselves with their bottom out on Facebook whilst moaning about their clients on Twitter? And for how LONG will Facebook, Google et al retain this information for? Will a graduate who spent three wild years out partying and sharing it with the world find themselves explaining their party lifestyle to a future employer for five years? Ten? What effect could this have on being hired - or fired? At the moment, information stored about us is used with our implicit consent, the moment we hit the "agree" button when presented with the terms of use. How many of us actually READ these terms in any detail? And Facebook basically own us the moment we sign up for an account - they can do whatever they want with our information, because it belongs to THEM. If (when) Google follow suit, there's no saying who will one day be able to track what we search for online, how many pairs of jeans we buy each month, how much beer we drank at college, and even how we sign off emails to our mum.

It might not be evil, but it doesn't mean it's right.