How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model

[KBD]

If you don't have an iPhone you are using Google/Android.

I don't have an iPhone or a Google/Android thing. I guess I'm about the last one in the world who doesn't want to be "connected" all the time.

I need to call and text people and email for that matter. Google maps are occasionally necessary as well. I don't do the social media thing though.

[LU344928]

Google stuff is convenient but getting more and more creepy.

Creepy is the word.

https://www.thecreepyline.com

The Creepy Line is a 2018 documentary showing the huge influence Google (and Facebook) have on public opinion.

'Google (and Facebook) push users away from privacy-friendly options on their services in an "unethical" way, according to a report by the Norwegian Consumer Council.'

'This feature documentary reveals the stunning degree to which society is manipulated by Google and Facebook, and blows the lid off the remarkably subtle and powerful manner in which they do it. Offering first-hand accounts, scientific experiments and detailed analysis, the film examines what is at risk when these tech titans have free reign to utilize the public’s most private and personal data.'

[LU344928]

I don't have any problem with Google.

So you have no problem with this?

'Google manipulates you from the moment you enter the first character in the search bar'

- Robert Epstein, former editor in chief of Psychology Today, visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, and founder and director emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, interviewed in The Creepy Line film.

Or these?

[LU344928]

I can't stand some of Google behaviors.

I ditched gmail because of this. Because google wants to know everything about you they always log your ip address. Earlier this year I was in the south of one country and checked my gmail one morning before heading to the airport. At my destination further north I checked it again that evening. The next day I went to another place 100 kms away where I checked it again that afternoon. So far no probs. But the next day, still in the same place, when I tried to sign in I was greeted with an error message: 'Your account has been suspended due to suspicious activity'.

I had to wait 2 days before I was allowed back in. Can somebody explain why google doesn't understand the concept of air travel, where, in this day and age (actually for more than half a century probably) it's possible to be in different locations in a particular country in a matter of hours?

[Adrian]

I don't have any problem with Google.

So you have no problem with this?

'Google manipulates you from the moment you enter the first character in the search bar'

- Robert Epstein, former editor in chief of Psychology Today, visiting scholar at the University of California, San Diego, and founder and director emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, interviewed in The Creepy Line film.

Or these?

You are manipulated from the moment you are born, have you left the world because of that?

[AK-47]

You are manipulated from the moment you are born, have you left the world because of that?

Although that is correct, it's a logical fallacy when applied here. I think LU344928 was trying to suggest, that Google is actively trying to control discourse, hence his link to Project Veritas.
Mr. Epstein's reference about the moment you type the first character, is very likely, in reference to the auto-complete menu that drops down.

It's a whole different ball game to what you are referring to. Using a similar logical fallacy, I can suggest that murder is OK because we kill bacteria on a regular basis.

[Adrian]

It's a whole different ball game to what you are referring to. Using a similar logical fallacy, I can suggest that murder is OK because we kill bacteria on a regular basis.

That's a bit different, I think your example is an exaggeration while mine was in the ballpark, think about it, you go to school - you are manipulated, you go to work - you are manipulated, you go to store/restaurant - you are manipulated, you go to a webpage - you are manipulated. Is that such a big difference between Google manipulating you and you going to a grocery store and being able to get the milk only from a fridge in the back? Is really that comparison like suggesting that killing is OK if it's OK to kill bacteria?

[AK-47]

That's a bit different, I think your example is an exaggeration while mine was in the ballpark, think about it, you go to school - you are manipulated, you go to work - you are manipulated, you go to store/restaurant - you are manipulated, you go to a webpage - you are manipulated. Is that such a big difference between Google manipulating you and you going to a grocery store and being able to get the milk only from a fridge in the back? Is really that comparison like suggesting that killing is OK if it's OK to kill bacteria?

Mine wasn't an exaggeration, but a demonstration of the logical fallacy you were using: X happens all the time so that makes it OK. We kill bacteria, we kill pests, and we kill animals food (hunting), how is killing a human any different?
Google's manipulation (which extends beyond their search engine) is quite different from getting milk only from the fridge in the back (which generally only affects impulsive buyers). Note that Google have legal exemptions from some liability under the expectation that it will be neutral. Grocery stores have no such exemption.

It's not just Google's search engine either: YouTube is known for censoring or attempting to de-platform creators who have certain political views (which I won't delve into here) or who say certain words or things. Definitely going beyond "grocery store grade" manipulation techniques.

[Adrian]

Note that Google have legal exemptions from some liability under the expectation that it will be neutral.

That's not a correct interpretation of the state of fact, every content provider including this forum is protected by Section 230, that proposal to remove even for some companies it is very dangerous, hopefully won't happen.

This is a summary what "Section 230" is: https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230

[JayM]

I can't stand some of Google behaviors.

I ditched gmail because of this. Because google wants to know everything about you they always log your ip address. Earlier this year I was in the south of one country and checked my gmail one morning before heading to the airport. At my destination further north I checked it again that evening. The next day I went to another place 100 kms away where I checked it again that afternoon. So far no probs. But the next day, still in the same place, when I tried to sign in I was greeted with an error message: 'Your account has been suspended due to suspicious activity'.

I had to wait 2 days before I was allowed back in. Can somebody explain why google doesn't understand the concept of air travel, where, in this day and age (actually for more than half a century probably) it's possible to be in different locations in a particular country in a matter of hours?

And, all of their sites automatically default to whatever they think is the language of whatever country you're in rather than allowing you to choose. They've also never heard of tourists or ex-pats, apparently. If you happened to fly to Mexico City on business and accessed Gmail's site it would all be in Spanish (not your actual emails, but their web interface.) Same with Blogger.

I said "whatever they think is the language of whatever country you're in" because in the Philippines all Google-owned websites default to Filipino (Tagalog.) This shows that they know absolutely nothing about the Philippines. 1: there are two official languages here, Filipino and English. 2. There are at last count 171 different languages and dialects spoken here, so both Filipino and English are second and third languages for the majority of Filipinos who learn them both in school starting in grade 2 and continuing until graduation from high school. (Even in the Manila area people actually speak something called "Taglish", which is a kind of blend of the two, as their everyday language rather than pure Tagalog.) So by forcing their websites into Filipino they're inconveniencing most Filipinos just as much as if they'd left the sites in English, and they're also showing their stark ignorance of the country and its people.