My intent is not to spoil your happiness with Google (I use some of their services too) but in case you are curious why I am questioning their business model and trustworthiness below are a few reference points.
Google advertises themselves as the champion of openness but when it comes to their core business that matters (i.e. in order to trust motives follow the money) they are very secretive and their business model includes a lot of misdirection (e.g. almost all of their businesses lose money by design because they are subsidized by the only thing that matters which is their targeted advertising business). Which of the mega-corporations have the most transparent business model and clearest relationship with consumers?
I wrote a short article about Google security and privacy issues based on some videos of interviews with Apple’s Tim Cook and Google’s Eric Schmidt.
Mathias Doepfner of Axel Springer wrote an open letter to Eric Schmidt about Google’s capability to abuse their power from a European perspective.
It may already be too late … resistance may be futile but there are things even the least powerful can do to try to move in the right direction if we know what that is. If our futures are going to be determined by mega-corporations driven by the profit motive what business models would be most beneficial and least risky to society as a whole? Free services to placate consumers while our private data on all aspects of our lives is being harvested for purchase by the highest bidder? I think not.
It is essential to build consensus on what model a better future should be based on. It is not so much that certain people are evil but that they are incentivized/motivated by a model that is not healthy in the grand scheme of things. Are current technology trends leading us towards the greatest good for the greatest number of people? Too much power in the hands of a few people/corporations who could monitor and control the masses holds the risk of our future relying on the equivalent of benevolent dictators or feudal lords. Privacy could be the issue that future generations judge us on.
Bruce Schneier on data privacy and Google et al’s feudal model of security
Bruce Schneier on privacy being a key issue at this time in history.