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Google under attack: untrustworthy and unethical, says US author

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

May 5, 2011 | 3 min read

Companies as big as Google are bound to attract criticism from time to time but author Scott Cleland"spares no hyperbole" in vilifying the search giant , according to a US report

USA Today's Tech Live reported that in a new book, Search & Destroy: Why You Can't Trust Google Inc., Cleland "spared no hyperbole in vilifying Google," and asked him in a Q and A why he took that approach.

Cleland: "My approach tests Google's most important public representations to see if the facts supported Google's side of the story. After four years of research, 700+ endnotes, and over 150 quotes from Google executives, I sadly conclude in the book that Google Inc. is untrustworthy, unethical, and shockingly political. "The facts tell us that Google's business practices warrant contempt and broad investigation by law enforcement authorities around the world." Tech Live: Location tracking capabilities of smartphones are suddenly raising privacy concerns. Why should we care ? Cleland: "Having your physical movements constantly tracked without your meaningful permission is an exceptionally dangerous privacy violation. Google secretly tracks and records Android users location about a thousand times a day in order to build a detailed profile of how and when to best influence you to do what Google or Google's advertisers want you to do. "The temptation and opportunity for this omni-tracking information to fall into the wrong hands is scarily real. It could be abused by another rogue Google employee, another hacker of Google's system, Government spy agencies that Google works with, or law enforcement who could gain access to it without a subpoena. "Such an intimate profile of your movements puts you at greater risk of stalking, blackmail, theft, fraud, kidnapping or arrest". Tech Live: What if location tracking, like most things Google does, is primarily about delivering more relevant ads? Cleland: "As the book details, polls show that most people: are not willing to trade their privacy for more relevant ads." Cleland said Google had not stopped collecting people's Wi-Fi signals as they pledged publicly,"They just secretly changed the signal-collection technology from Street View cars to any device with an Android operating system. In both instances, Google is collecting extremely private information without users meaningful permission or knowledge that irresponsibly puts people at unnecessary risk. " The goal of my book is to make more people aware of the threats Google poses to privacy, property, competition, and even democracy -- so that the system can address them appropriately." USA Today pointed out that Adam Kovacevich, Google's top PR man, has more than once advised Technology Live that Cleland is often inaccurate and untrustworthy, since he has done commissioned work for Microsoft and other Google business rivals.
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