Personal information becoming less personal.

There was a time when companies repected your privacy because it was the right thing to do. It wasn't a question of business ethics, rather a personal moral conviction. People understood there was information that could be used, but most business people found it repugnant to get down to such an individual level. That's not the way it is anymore. It's been a slow slide to where little by little we believe that any information you acquire about a person can be used to market something. Where did it all begin? Probably with aggressive marketing ideas that intellectually make sense.

I think it began at Radio Shack. I know some of you may be laughing, but it's Radio Shack. Do you remember when you would go into the store and buy an electronic part for 59 cents and they would force, and I mean force you to give them a name and an address. You would ask, "Why do you need that?". They wouldn't always have a good answer, they just said it was part of their sales process, but their catalog would show up in the mail a week or two later. That stunk. There isn't any difference between that and what goes on today, only now it's faster, cheaper and more integrated.

That's where it started for me anyway and I don't like the need to know about everything about me so they can sell something.

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Google buys Keyhole, is anything private?

I made this posting on our search engine news but thought that it would be relevant here too.

Google has made another company purchase buying Keyhole which has digital mapping software. The software is able to take satellite digital images an give you a view of a small are with digital photos. Evidently, it can tile photos from a satellite so it looks like one continuous image. I don't know how small the image can detail, but if you're familiar with satellite imagery they can probably define objects of 6 feet or maybe less. It's going to probably be used to provide a mapquest type service where someone sees directions with a real picture. What does it mean for the average person or privacy? It might mean that you have less privacy when someone can look at your street and see where everything is. I hope that they're not going to go all out on this online. I think criminals will use it and possibly ists if this is shown to give detail previously only available to the governmental authorities. Once again, Google has me a little spooked. I'm getting ahead of the game here. They haven't said yet why they bought it, but what other reason would you other than to give photographic detail of what's on the ground?

Web marketing for real world results, RealWebMarketing.com

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Google isn't a security threat? So says this guy.

In this article, an opinion by Larry Seltzer states that Google Desktop search isn't a security threat. It's a good read even though I don't agree with all of it. He has some thoughtful points that he could be right about desktop search.

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Desktop search raising concerns.

Here is an article written by Matt hicks of eWeek that finally does some justice to all the security issues that we're going to find with anyone's desktop search. The search engine industry is moving fast to incorporate desktop search giving people the ability to easily find information stored on their computer. It will even index some things you may not want it to, like personal information. I've been blogging on this now for over a couple of weeks and don't see any assurances from the major search engines that they don't have vulnerabilities.

This paragraph from the article explains what I'm talking about:

As they extend their reach to desktop applications, Internet companies are opening themselves to more malicious attacks, given the tenacity of attackers and the increased complexity of their services, said Ken Dunham, director of malicious code at iDefense Inc., a Reston, Va., security intelligence company.

"The more options and software you provide, then it's more likely that new avenues for exploitation will be introduced," Dunham said. "If someone wants to get into your house real bad, they can. Your job is to make sure yours is less likely to be attacked and robbed.

Even though they say everything is secure, there are people trying to hack it to get information or just for fun. For years the Windows OS was been assumed to be a totally safe environment at the beginning. But s got smarter and are writing code 24/7 to take advantage of vulnerabilities. Now with the advent of desktop search, where all your computer information is indexed for easy search, s have a ready made index of what's on your computer. It will be easier than ever before to see all sorts of personal information if it's breached. That's the problem, it's now too easy to find personal information. There must be steps taken to secure privacy. There are many companies that do this already and it offers a golden opportunity to help people find information while making certain things private. I would suggest that people not install these tools until we all have better systems for maintaining privacy. The search engine companies don't care about privacy, they want to know your habits, so they can better distribute ads. That is the only they have right now for making money. If you do decide to use a desktop search, proceed cautiously and know right upfront all the details of what you are doing.

Web marketing for the real world...RealWebMarketing.com

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Ads being served up with desktop results?

As we all know, Google has come out with their desktop search, but what a lot of people don't know is that when they search both the web and their computer at the same time, ad results will come up regarding the search. I think it's fine that Google makes money on ads, but when a person didn't intend for a desktop search to be combined with a web search, they get ads. What that means is, that keyword you're searching for on your desktop is going out over the internet and recorded by Google. Evidently, you must close the web search function in Google to prevent this right now. If you don't and you use a default combined search, then your keyword is captured and ads are served up for a computer search.

What types of keywords would you not want to go out over the internet by accident? How about personal information, banking information or anything that might be considered a little valuable to someone out there. I'm not saying Google is bad, it's just there are alternatives to a blurred line between web searching and desktop searching. Was Google too anxious to get the product out before Microsoft did? Probably. I like Google, the products are good, solid, but the privacy in desktop search maybe should have been thought about a bit more before release.

One of the alternatives is Copernic Desktop search which is a free download. They keep desktop search separate from web searching. The concerns about privacy caused them to make a decision for better personal privacy. One of the nice features of their desktop search is the ability to turn off what you don't want to search. I like it because you can choose to search for files on your desktop, like office files, PDF's or text files, which is all I ever really wanted, a better computer search than what Microsoft had with the operating system. Of course, you can choose to index everything including e-mail too, but you have a choice.

Marketing for the real world...RealWebMarketing.com

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Privacy is the story with Google Desktop.

People are talking about the lack of privacy when using the Google Desktop. It doesn't seem to end. I think that the whole desktop search is a problem until there are ways to control what you want it to index. I can't imagine no one thought of this when bringing this thing to market. This is a golden opportunity for Microsoft to come out with some they like and give some privacy.

In this atmosphere of search engine competition, I don't know if it's possible to have both at the same time. It looks like individual consumers wll have to decide whether this whole indexing of your PC is a good or bad idea.

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Privacy concerns over Google Desktop.

Here is an article which goes over some of the problems with Google's Desktop search. All of the problems you can imagine could come true with Google Desktop. Probably one of the worst privacy scenarios is using a public terminal of any kind that has it installed. Here's what the article states:

"If it's installed on computers at libraries and Internet cafes, users could unwittingly allow people who follow them on the PCs, for example, to see sensitive information in e-mails they've exchanged. That could mean revealed passwords, conversations with doctors, or viewed web pages detailing online purchases. "

One of the people cited in the article calls it a "perfect spy program". As for me I'm never installing it on anything I have, I don't care how nice it is to find something buried on my hard drive. It's not a question am I doing anything wrong, it's question of keeping our lives private. In a country that believes in privacy rights of an individual, why would any willingly relinquish such privacy just to find a file on their computer?

This whole idea of desktop search is a potential nightmare for people. This is the problem with this form of search. I predict the searching public will ultimately reject this version of desktop search over the privacy issue.

Keeping it real...for marketing, RealWebMarketing.com

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Just what I always wanted, no privacy at work!

I posted this on my search engine news but feel that it's important enough to post on the privacy blog too. I'm believing that our privacy online is slipping away.

Here is an article where the author works as a columnist and is just plain gushing about the new Google Desktop search. He talks about some of the pluses of the program and believes it to be valuable. For someone who is a columnist for a major newspaper and does a lot of research and writing, (although I'm not sure journalists do anymore!) it might be a helpful tool to find a note or reference quickly. What I get a kick out of is the final paragraph:

"If you install this program on your computer at work, keep in mind that you're providing colleagues and bosses who sniff around your computer (perfectly legally, in most cases) with an excellent surveillance tool."

Wow, thanks Chris for letting us know the entire flaw in this whole desktop search, privacy. I know that anyone can search your desktop at work legally but is that good for employer, employee relationships? Probably not. It breeds an air of suspicion of the whole organization where people might fell skittish about putting in some honest notes about someone's performance, even the bosses. This is how the whole concept falls flat on it's face, there is no privacy with it. I'm not like Chris here. This is an open door. Even if there is nothing to hide, it's still like someone potentially going through your personal items or a woman's purse. Is this what we've come to? There was a time when people were personally respected, their space respected, they were trusted. With tools like this, you won't feel free to be honest in your documents for fear of someone finding them quickly at a meeting or just sitting on your desk.

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Google desktop search & privacy.

Google unveiled it's desktop search just today and what has me concerned is privacy. Google claims it is totally private. Here is their privacy policy.

But here is what has me concerned is this statement from that very privacy policy:

"What information does Google receive? By default, Google Desktop Search collects a limited amount of non-personal information from your computer and sends it to Google. This includes summary information, such as the number of searches you do and the time it takes for you to see your results, and application reports we'll use to make the program better. You can opt out of sending this information during the installation process or from the application preferences at any time.

Personally identifying information, such as your name or address, will not be sent to Google without your explicit permission."

So what constitutes permission? Is that agreeing to the license? We need to be careful on this because I see some problems or hackers trying to take advantage of this. I'm not confident of the privacy aspects of any search engine.

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