Is the Google empire spying on the world? Or is it simply mining information for the convenience of its users?
How often do you permit an application to “use your location”? Are you allowing apps to access your phone’s contacts? What about the ways you use Google Maps?
These are simple queries to which we unthinkingly click “yes” on smartphones and tablets almost every day. We agree to permit access for our convenience, and we seldom feel that there’s something sinister afoot, or that a “Big Brother” Internet entity is actively watching our every move from above.
At first glance, it would seem that the search giant is accessing your data for an innocuous enough purpose. Google works quickly by indexing the Internet rather than scanning the entire Web every time a search is conducted. This is how the search engine is able to deliver useful results in a second or less.
But what if Google farmed your personal information and indexed all of this newfound insight … with more nefarious purposes in mind? What would the dominators of the search engine world do with this sea of data? And in what ways can they gather all this information?
Here are a few sneaky ways that Google collects information about us all, whether or not we’re aware of it:
Google Chrome
The most popular web browser has seen little competition since it became a mainstream means of surfing the Web. Since 2012, Chrome has been the most widely used Internet browser. But it may also be eavesdropping on you in the privacy of your home or office.
Privacy advocates allege that Google’s popular browser may have secretly added code that allows Chrome to listen back to what’s going on around the device it’s on. In a blogpost, Rick Falkvinge, the founder of the Pirate Party, alleged that the superstar web browser has been “stealth downloading” software into Chrome that is capable of listening to users’ conversations. This could be happening on your desktop, laptop, and even mobile devices (especially those running Android).
The software was developed to help the company’s vocal trigger “Okay, Google” detect hotwords. But it may be that in addition to listening for that phrase, Google may also be listening to every sidebar conversation in the meantime. The program is ready for your vocal search queries at all times, but it’s possible for the brand to listen in on much more.
Google Maps/Street View
In the late 2000s, Google launched its Street View fleet in a few U.S. cities and began indexing our world’s roadways. Since then, untold thousands of cars, boats, tricycles, and other vehicles—all equipped with high-tech 360-degree cameras—have stitched together images of roads all over the planet, from city streets to country lanes.
Criticism of this process quickly surfaced. A Swiss court ordered limitations on the types of images Google could collect and required blurring of faces and of locations considered sensitive, such as prisons and women’s shelters.
More controversy stirred when, in 2010, a German agency discovered that Google was illegally collecting unencrypted personal data via wi-fi routers using its Street View fleet. Investigators around the world, including at the FCC, started looking into the practice. German and French privacy regulators imposed fines. And in a letter, David C. Vladeck of the Bureau of Consumer Protection stated:
“According to Google’s announcement, in 2007, the company installed software on its ‘Street View’ cars to collect data about consumers’ wireless network access points for the purpose of improving its location-based services. Earlier this year, in response to a request from the data protection authority in Hamburg, Germany, Google discovered that the software on the Street View cars had also been collecting some ‘payload’ data contents of communications sent over unsecured wireless networks. The company stated that the collection of payload data was inadvertent and that the company did not use the payload data in any Google product or service.”
While Google may have had good intentions and claimed to only be using this payload data for benefit of its location services, it’s still a bit creepy and definitely thought provoking.
Unrelated, yet interesting, here are some crimes caught by Google Street View cars.
Devices with Front Facing Cameras
By 2016, it’s estimated that mobile internet devices will outnumber humans. And on those devices, what used to be a fancy feature is now pretty much standard: Front facing cameras are now so common that even cheap smartphones have them.
All this makes you wonder: What happens when video calls start getting tapped? What additional information can be gleaned from collecting audio PLUS the corresponding video images? Can that information be connected back to you and your identity?
Smart Refrigerators
This is something that I’m pretty sure a lot of people don’t think about, mainly because smart refrigerators aren’t all that common yet. But it’s coming: Industry leaders, such as Samsung and LG, are producing futuristic fridges that integrate the use of tablets in the kitchen.
I’ll admit, this seems like an extremely handy innovation. I can see the advantage of being able to check what’s in the fridge using your smartphone while you’re in the dairy section at the market.
But it’s also a bit unsettling. Who’s to say that the icebox camera isn’t actually taking your picture every time time you open the door? And what happens to all those images of you scoring a late-night scoop of ice cream? It’s definitely food for thought.
Mobile Payment
Mobile payment is now a multi-billion dollar industry. Google Wallet and Apple Pay will likely see exponential growth as this modern payment option rolls out. It’s only a matter of time before mobile payment replaces the outdated magnetic strip of credit and debit cards.
The success or failure of each of these business models may come down to privacy. According to a 2014 article by Tim Bajarin in PCMag, Google Wallet has been slower than Apple Pay to catch on, in part because banks were not impressed with their handling of personal data. “When Google approached the banks and asked them to support Google Wallet,” writes Bajarin, “it explained that part of their support meant that they would also feed data back to Google on what people bought and other personal data that Google could use to serve targeted ads.”
That’s cause for concern. While some folks don’t mind targeted ads based on their purchases, others don’t want their financial activities further monetized and tracked. And beyond that, what if Google Wallet started to track where payments frequently occur? This information could be deemed useful for its location services and for Google Now features.
The Self-Driving Car
What was once considered science fiction is now a tangible reality; in fact, many cars already have some self-driving features, such as front-crash prevention systems with auto-braking. And a report by BI Intelligence estimates that user-operated autonomous cars could hit the market by 2020. Cutting out human error on the road could make commutes easier, decrease the number of cars on the road by facilitating sharing, and save thousands of lives.
Privacy experts point out the possible pitfalls. As Timothy B. Lee writes in the Washington Post, self-driving cars will most likely come equipped with cellular connections that are always live, for reasons of safety and improved navigation. And as with smartphones, a constant cell connection makes your car, and you, extremely easy to track.
There are more privacy questions on the horizon. For example, what’s to stop Google from collecting stored information about where users are going? (The company probably won’t manufacture self-driving cars but will sell the software they require.) If Google is watching and listening, what happens to all that information about how often you go to the liquor store, the mall … or a sleazy hotel just outside of town?
Final Thoughts
As with any innovation, many consumers will probably weigh the risk-benefit ratio of such technologies as smart appliances, mobile payment, and autonomous cars, and they may decide that convenience outweighs privacy concerns.
After all, people are getting somewhat savvier about the digital data trails they leave behind. But governments are going to have to do a better job of keeping up with these emerging technologies—and of protecting citizens from prying digital eyes.
About the Author
Robert Parmer is a freelance web writer, a student at Boise State University, and a chef. Besides writing and reading avidly, he enjoys creating and recording music, caring for his pet cat, and commuting by bicycle whenever possible. Follow him on Twitter @robparmer
