Absolute Geek

Dan Ma

Recently, our office began trialling switching over to GoogleMail for our email. It's great; excellent up-time (relatively speaking), oodles of space and fantastically cheap. This is latest addition of a now quickly growing stable of Google services we use here, along with Docs (for which I'm currently drafting this blog entry), Calendar, Maps, Blogger, Chrome and naturally Adwords and Analytics.

But over the years, we as a collective are becoming more and more dependent on Google, and signing up to new services, sometimes almost blindly, under the spell of "Google Chic".  Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been a big fan of Google since it was known in geek academia circles as “that new search thingy that you can use to find references for your research paper". However, I can't help but notice the amount of information that we are blissfully passing to Mountain View under the utilitarianism of the brand. Ultimately, Google is an information company. So what are they doing with all of this information?

Let's entertain a cynical side of me for a second. Here's what Google has the potential to know about you when you've created an account and start using their services:

• Search - What you are looking for
• Chrome - What you are looking at and what you're interested in
  
• Analytics - What you are doing and where are you going online
• Checkout - What you are buying
  
• Calendar - What you are doing offline and when
  
• Maps - Where you are going offline and even where you are right now
  
• Mail/Talk - Who you are talking to
• Blogger and Docs - What you are writing about and what is on your mind
• YouTube - What you like to watch, listen and create
• Picasa - What you like to see, what you and your friends and family look like

To me, this goes beyond the stereotypical Big Brother image of static-ey CCTV cameras following your every move which has provoked headlines for many years now. This is more than knowing what you are doing, it's knowing what you are thinking; and ultimately who you are.

I'm beginning to sound like a nutter conspiracy theorist here. Frankly, I couldn't care less if Westminster CCTV track me walking around Charing Cross station. However, I'd feel more than a little  uncomfortable about revealing what I am thinking about and who I am as I'm walking around.

Thankfully, Google are adamant about strict Privacy guidelines. But we are living in an era of marketing where we rely on multiple sources to track users' behaviour and profile them in great detail. To "offer customers better and more relevant services and products", naturally.

Somehow I’m sensing that George Orwell is watching us from above with interest. However, I’d imagine he’d be surprised that the target of interest is a NASDAQ-listed company, rather than the State.

Perhaps Mr Orwell should make sure he clears his browser cache and cookies before logging off.