 |
| Image: CIO.com |
In 2012, a federal regulatory agency concluded that Google abused its monopoly power in ways that harmed not only its competitors, but also Internet users like you and me (Pagliery, 2015).
You may not remember this situation in the news because it was a rather uneventful story. Why? Because Google avoided a massive antitrust battle, thanks to the Federal Trade Commission’s decision not to pursue a legal fight.
That’s right. Even after the federal regulatory agency concluded wrongdoing by Google and a two-year investigation by the FTC into the company's online monopoly power, all five FTC commissioners decided to not sue (Pagliery, 2015).
How did this happen? Why is it that even though it was concluded that Google actually posed harm “to consumers and to innovation” (Mullins, Winkler and Kendall; 2015) that they, themselves, came away relatively unharmed?
According to a CNN Money article about the Google monopoly issue, it’s because the battle would have been too great for the FTC: “In reality, the FTC likely didn't pursue a legal fight because it was going to be a tough case. After all, it had to be able to prove that Google was a monopoly power that was not only harming competition but also the public. Google was popular with the public, which could easily choose to use competitors that were just a click away like Yahoo and Bing” (Pagliery, 2015).
So here we are a couple of years later and Google has continued to grow as a monopoly. It continues collect incredible amounts of user data and toe the line on privacy concerns. BUT - and this is a big but - the company also continues to churn out innovative products and services that are truly changing our lives in meaningful ways.
Is it worth it?
Well, there’s no one-size-fits-all way to answer whether or not the positive impact Google is making on our lives with its innovative products and ideas is worth the sacrifice of privacy and control over our own data.
The fact is, privacy holds a different level of importance for each of us. For every person who isn’t sharing anything online - who is holding tight to every ounce of privacy they’re able to maintain in this digital age, there is another person who is oversharing by the minute, with selfies, photos of their kids and pets, images of the meals they’re eating, the places they’re visiting and the items they’re buying.
While there no definitive way to say that Google is or is not crossing the line, it is possible to take a closer look at what data the company is collecting and what is being done with it. Perhaps if we were all a little more educated, we could at least take more ownership over our own privacy concerns, regardless of what Google is or is not allowed to do as a business.
What Does Google Know About YOU?
According to Google, itself, Google collects the data about its users in the following ways:
- Things you do: When we use Google’s services, the company tracks what it refers to as “basic information to make these services work”, including things we search for, websites we visit, ads we engage with, our location, our devices, our IP addresses and our cookie data.
- Things that make you “you”: When we create a Google Account, the company records and stores information we provide, including name, email address and password, birthday, gender, phone number, country and billing information. This information is account related and, Google insists that it is stored securely on their servers.
- Things you create: When signed into our Google Accounts, the company stores and protects what we create while using their services so, as Google says “you will always have your information when you need it. This data can include emails sent using Gmails, contacts we add, calendar events, photos and videos we upload, and the Docs, Sheets and Slides we create on Google Drive.
(Google: Data Collection, 2015)
While the second two areas explained here don’t really surprise me, as they pertain to the information I want and expect Google to store for me, it’s the first area that makes me - and a lot of other people - a little uneasy. Google is not only watching everything I do online, it is also recording it and storing it. ...and sharing it.
Regardless of your comfort level with the company’s data collection practices, it’s important to be informed about what Google is doing with your personal information.
Again, according to Google, the company says, “By analyzing patterns across the data we collect, we give you more useful results and recommendations. And when you sign in with your Google Account, we can give you an even better experience” (Google: Data Use, 2015).
But what does that mean? Is this data actually making things better for you? Or is it all about pleasing advertisers? If you ask me, it’s actually a little of both.
What does it mean for YOU?
The data Google collects about your behavior while you use its products makes your searches more accurate, efficient and relevant. For example, if you are traveling and use Google on your smartphone to search for Starbucks. If you allow Google to see your location, it can provide Starbucks locations closest to you.
As another example, because Google tracks information about our emails, it is able to provide better spam filters that keep annoying and potentially malicious emails from reaching your inbox. In fact, Google claims that thanks to their efforts in this area, less than 1% of all spam sent to Gmail actually makes it to their users’ inboxes (Google: Data Use, 2015).
Lastly, the same data that helps advertisers also helps you. When Google knows more about you, including your location, your previous searches, your demographics, the devices you use, etc., it can deliver ads that are most likely to actually be of interest to you. That means that if you’re a 25 year-old single woman living in Florida, you would be extremely unlikely to see ads for a senior citizen assisted living community in Nebraska.
So is Google a monopoly? Perhaps. Is that a bad thing? It depends on how you look at it. While bad things can certainly result from monopolies and no one wants their personal data exploited, it seems as though Google’s efforts thus far have been aimed at making the world better and more relevant.
Should Google be watched closely? I think so. But in the meantime, just be aware of how your information is being tracked and shared. Take ownership of your privacy, but also try to appreciate the quality of life that is made possible when you share a little bit of personal data.
Resources
Google. (2015). Google: Data Collection. “What data does Google collect?”. Google. Retrieved from https://privacy.google.com/data-we-collect.html
Google. (2015). Google: Data Use. “What does Google do with the data it collects?”. Google Retrieved from https://privacy.google.com/how-we-use-data.html
Mullins, B., Winkler, R., and Kendall, B. (March 19, 2015). “Inside the U.S. Antitrust Probe of Google”. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-the-u-s-antitrust-probe-of-google-1426793274
Pagliery, J. (March 19, 2015). “Google abused its monopoly power, FTC experts found”. CNN Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/19/technology/google-monopoly-ftc/
No comments:
Post a Comment