Deleted my old and ugly orkut account.
we should start boycotting google products and let us show whos the boss.
Just see the recent outcome of revolutions which came in egypt,libya etc.
I will stop using the Google products. it will take some time to for the migration.
First step: removed Google as my search engines in my browser.
Second step: remove chrome from my home computer.
I have to confess that I find the furor to be overblown.
Collecting data isn't evil. It's the currency of the future, a currency that we provide in order to buy useful services, many of which can ONLY be provided if that data is aggregated and analyzed and made relevant. There are evil things that you can do with that data, but just collecting it isn't evil. I wish people would avoid the linkbait headlines unless they have evidence that Google is actually doing bad things with that data.
If you want an example of a company that is doing "evil", consider Apple. I was horrified when I heard Mike Daisey, author of the one-man show "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," talking on This American Life about working conditions in the factories that make the iPhone and iPad, and Apple's tepid monitoring of those conditions. When a company has $98 billion in cash, and profits of tens of billions of dollars each quarter, does it really need to squeeze every last cent out of manufacturing costs?
The account of how Apple's factories substituted n-hexane, a neurotoxin with well-documented long term adverse health effects, for alcohol to wipe those shining screens clean, gaining a miniscule advantage in drying time but exposing workers to a lifetime of disablement, nearly brought me to tears.
That's evil. Of course, Apple never promised to do no evil, so they get a free pass.
Journalists should listen to this episode, and then write about that, please:
Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory | This American Life
simple... I cannot agree with the new Privacy Policy of Google. After this would be to migrate to another Email provider, remove my Google Apps account (another personal email) , later migrate to another non-google services based phone or build my own version of Android without google services.wow...why ? what you will accomplish after this ?
your privacy is already protected..no one is going to bomb your place...no matter what you use privacy on internet is mythI know I will be handicapped without these services, but that the risk I will take to protect my privacy.
A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist activity. The document, part of a program called “Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity. The use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide encrypted data in digital photos” or other media. In fact, the flyer recommends that anyone “overly concerned about privacy” or attempting to “shield the screen from view of others” should be considered suspicious and potentially engaged in terrorist activities.
Logging into an account associated with a residential internet service provider (such as Comcast or AOL), an activity that could simply indicate that you are on a trip, is also considered a suspicious activity. Viewing any content related to “military tactics” including manuals or “revolutionary literature” is also considered a potential indicator of terrorist activity. This would mean that viewing a number of websites, including the one you are on right now, could be construed by a hapless employee as an highly suspicious activity potentially linking you to terrorism.
The “Potential Indicators of Terrorist Activities” contained in the flyer are not to be construed alone as a sign of terrorist activity and the document notes that “just because someone’s speech, actions, beliefs, appearance, or way of life is different; it does not mean that he or she is suspicious.” However, many of the activities described in the document are basic practices of any individual concerned with security or privacy online. The use of PGP, VPNs, Tor or any of the many other technologies for anonymity and privacy online are directly targeted by the flyer, which is distributed to businesses in an effort to promote the reporting of these activities.