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Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:35 am
by LU344928
Adrian wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:33 am
You are manipulated from the moment you are born, have you left the world because of that?
I would suggest the term indoctrination is more apt. We are certainly indoctrinated from an early age but when we become adults we can make our own choices and decisions. But what google does is manipulate your search results based on your personal data. You're given different results based on your income - google knows everything about you, including how much you earn; or based on where you live, or a host of other criteria. This is known as the 'filter bubble'. And the filter bubble is particularly pernicious when searching for information on that topic the discussion of which is against forum rules.
You also asked what harm has google done to you. As Eli Pariser, who coined that term, points out, we get trapped in this filter bubble and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. This will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for society.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:42 am
by richb
When I do searches on Google I get articles from all points of view, not tailored to my particular world view. As far as articles tailored to my interests, which is different than general articles on news items, that is something I appreciate.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:45 am
by Paul..
Quite a bit has been written about both subjects:
Surveillance Capitalism
https://www.amazon.com/Age-Surveillance ... 2HVQXHJKEB
Filter Bubble (Eli Pariser's book)
https://www.amazon.com/Filter-Bubble-Wh ... =0&ie=UTF8
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:55 am
by LU344928
JayM wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 9:08 pm
LU344928 wrote: Tue Oct 22, 2019 8:14 am
zorzi wrote: Sat Sep 28, 2019 2:53 am
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.
I noticed this in Thailand. Incidentally, that country I mentioned earlier just happens to be the Philippines - Cebu one morning, Manila that afternoon and Subic the following day. Those travel movements are suspicious activity according to gmail. Ludicrous!
But back to Thailand. When I was there I created another gmail account. When I left and tried signing in from a neighboring country I was told "You are signing in from an unrecognized device'. Of course it's an unrecognized device. It's a different computer in another country. They're called internet cafes and have been around for 25 years or more. Why doesn't gmail understand the concept of internet cafes? So I could go no further. Luckily it wasn't my main email account.
When I got back to Thailand and was finally allowed to sign in I see the message 'Someone has your password. Was it you?' When I clicked on YES I thought that would be the end of. Not a chance. On my next trip exactly the same sequence of events happened, ie not being allowed to sign in from another country and then when returning to Thailand seeing the same, someone has your password, was it you message.
Who in their right mind would continue to use gmail after being put through all this!
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:57 am
by LU344928
richb wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:42 am
When I do searches on Google I get articles from all points of view, not tailored to my particular world view.
Sounds like you weren't signed into any of google's services.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:01 am
by Eadwine Rose
I doubt that is the case. When you're using google you're always signed in to sync stuff.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:02 am
by richb
LU344928 wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:57 am
richb wrote: Thu Oct 24, 2019 7:42 am
When I do searches on Google I get articles from all points of view, not tailored to my particular world view.
Sounds like you weren't signed into any of google's services.
Indeed I was.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:04 am
by Eadwine Rose
You WERE logged in, or you were not? Hehe.. now I am confuzzled
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:07 am
by richb
For me. Yes I was logged in to Google. I always am when my computer is on.
Re: How Google pioneered the "surveillance capitalism" business model
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2019 8:30 am
by Adrian
You also have a choice of signing out or using "incognito window" that doesn't give you personalized results.