"Google should not be your top privacy worry...."

From InformationWeek Security commentary online, a discussion of real privacy concerns....Thomas:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/privacy/232601954?cid=nl_IW_daily_2012-03-05_html&elq=4d42c17caeeb43daa3978f79d6ed1541

The outcry is both appropriate and ridiculous.

Worries about online privacy are appropriate because online privacy is terrible. Remember Facebook's Beacon ad targeting system, which caused similar controversy in 2007? Well, read Google's new privacy policy, the part about pixel tags.

Google explains, "A pixel tag is a type of technology placed on a website or within the body of an email for the purpose of tracking activity on websites, or when emails are opened or accessed, and is often used in combination with cookies."

That's basically what Facebook's Beacon system did. But it's not just Google doing this, it's pretty much every online ad company and major Internet service."
....
"...worries about online privacy are ridiculous because we don't really want privacy. We want to feel like we're in control, whether or not we are or can be. We want a property right in the information we generate and passively express. You'd better hope that we never get that far because there won't be any information economy after that.

Privacy doesn't sell, at least beyond those in the market for tin foil hats."
....
"Though Google consolidated its privacy policies to allow it to generate more ad revenue by delivering more relevant ads, it also is offering what it believes is a better experience. So before you take up arms against Google, which is mainly trying to make enough money to pay for all those videos you're uploading and watching on YouTube,
here, in no particular order, are a few privacy violators to worry about."

"
1. Shoulder surfers 2. Hackers 3. Other people 4. Governments 5. Credit bureaus 6. Information vendors 7. Your employer 8. You
"
....
"The list could go on. Insurers, retailers, ISPs, developers, telecom companies, electric utilities, grocery stores, and anyone rifling through your garbage might know more about you than you realize. Frankly, if Google's tracking is your major concern, you probably have very little to worry about."
....
"Trust as much as you have to, verify what you care about, block where necessary, and try to find your own personal comfort zone in the information economy."

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The bottom line is how do we pay for a "free", as in $ not freedom, Internet ?  I, for one would rather have targeted marketing so the ads are relevant to me.  When you use store cards for discounts you are being paid for information about you so the store may better target your buying preferences.  Is that bad ?

There is a story that a national store, with the information gleaned from their store cards, sent a young lady ads on pregnancy products through the USPS mail.  When the parents saw the ads they were furious that the store was promoting unacceptable sexual conduct for their teenage daughter.  Turns out the teenager was already pregnant and buying auxiliary products to take care of herself.  The story goes that the store now mixes in unrelated products with the targeted products;  kind of backing out of the original goal of targeted marketing.  The moral being that we are all learning this new, more open environment and how to manage it.

The author, Thomas Claburn, also states:
"That doesn't mean privacy isn't worthwhile. It's just complicated. We should expect and demand that companies are straightforward about how they're using information. Here Google and other businesses need to do more, to be more specific about how they leverage data. ...."

One of my favorite new TV shows is "Person of Interest", which could have a sub-title of "Big Data in Action".  It is about a computer system that analyzes information about us and determines when some one is in trouble.  The sources of information about us are almost limitless.  Who or what has access to it and how they use it will always merit watching.  Do you have an FBI file ?