Google as Big Brother

There is no better illustration of Google's corporate immorality and avarice for personal, private information than Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt's latest announcement about where he wants to take the company.

He told journalists in London the company's goal is to maximize the personal information it holds on you.

"The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the questions such as 'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?'"

I don't know about you, but I don't want any private or public entity to have that kind of private, personal information about me.

"We cannot even answer the most basic questions because we don't know enough about you," Schmidt frets. "That is the most important aspect of Google's expansion."

Google's lust for private, personal data on individual users is unsatisfied even though it currently maintains records of your Internet searches for at least two years.

Why would Google need to know every search you conducted for the last two years? What do you suppose the company might do with that information? Did you know your searches were being tracked and maintained in an electronic dossier for future use? Do you trust Google to keep those searches confidential? Do you trust Google never to exploit them for commercial gain?

Recently, Google purchased an advertising company called DoubleClick for $3.1 billion. DoubleClick is known as the most intrusive Internet advertising agency in the world — one that sets cookies in its banners that attach themselves like viruses to your personal computer with the express purpose of tracking your movements and finding out more about your habits.

Do you approve of that kind of activity? Did you know about Google's spying activities?

When confronted about this, Schmidt said his company was working on technology to reduce the concerns of consumers.

Notice he didn't say the technology would reduce privacy intrusions — only consumer concerns.

I've warned you that this corporate monstrosity is evil. Maybe you thought I was joking — or resorting to rhetorical overkill to make a point. I assure you, this is no joke. This kind of surreptitious espionage is dangerous. Google is rapidly becoming the Big Brother of George Orwell's "1984."

And look at its hideously immoral track record on other matters.

Google sold its corporate soul, if it ever had one, to the totalitarian Chinese regime by agreeing to restrict Internet searches in that country to sanitized, government-approved pabulum — no truth about Tiananmen Square, no truth about freedom movements, no truth about Taiwan independence bids. This was the price to be paid for expansion into the Chinese market.

What if some other dictator wanted something else — like information? Could we count on the spoiled, immature billionaire young punks at Google to stand on principle or conviction?

What if some rogue government agency got a subpoena for Google's data on you? Do you think Google would ever stand up for its customers in the face of pressure — especially in light of its utter moral capitulation to Beijing?

Let me put it simply: Google is out of control. Google is an amoral corporate giant only too happy to do the bidding of evil governments like the one in China. Google needs to understand there's a cost to raping and pillaging your privacy rights.

It's time to grab these rich kids by the scruff of the neck and give them a wake-up call.

What do I want to do tomorrow?

Rein in the ogling, voyeuristic peeping toms of the Silicon Valley.

Yes, that means you, Eric Schmidt!

To find out more about Joseph Farah, and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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