[mythtv-users] OT: Google - big brother? or I going mad?

[Jason Sullivan]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 10:08 AM, mike at grounded.net <mike at grounded.net> wrote:
>> What's the Google "worst case scenario" that's keeping you
>> (collective, not personal "you") up at night?
>
> For most, there's nothing to hide but it doesn't give ANYONE the right to stalk electronically which is what all of these companies are doing. Through corroborative efforts, they are able to practically piece your life together, every little ounce of it to the point where it's ridiculous. Think of all the little innocent poles you've replied to online, innocent little things that in total, give a total view of your beliefs, your likes, dislikes.

Actually, signing up for credit cards, insurance, a mortgage, even
gmail explicitly _does_ give them certain rights to your data, and if
you're not comfortable with that fact, that's totally fine.  There are
alternatives to Google, even for web-based e-mail, that provide higher
degrees of privacy.  You could even run your own server, as it seems
more than a few people on this list do.

> Come on, when are people going to wake up and realize what's going on? Whether there is something to 'fear' or not, who wants that kind of world? Are governments going to invest into companies like google because they can do a better job of spying then their own resources can? If it's not already happening, it's only a matter of time and that's not paranoia, it's simply what we're all allowing it to be.

And that's really the source of my "worst case scenario" question.
What, indeed, is going on?  There's lots of vague extrapolation being
thrown about along with an insistence that it's not paranoia.  Those
two things seem sort of at odds with each other.  I'm all for being
careful with my data, but I figure I'll do better shredding my credit
card statements than avoiding google.

-- 
Jason Sullivan
jason0x21 at gmail.com