November 12th, 2008
Fear the Googler, not the Google
Chris Matyszczyk is upset that Google has offered to share data from its search results with the government, in hopes of tracking flu outbreaks more closely.
He fears mission creep, and the leak of personally-identifiable information to the government.
These are valid fears, and the slope can be slippery, but is that not true with all technological progress?
Let me offer an example. A week ago someone wrote into the Web site of my local community organization. Their complaint was that a neighbor was being harassed for not keeping up their property.
At the end of the note was a warning. I’m not telling you where I live because I don’t want you going after me. Then the person signed it with their own name.
Within a few minutes I knew where they lived and many elements of their biography. I thought of sharing this, because I didn’t like the tone of the note (trashy yards hurt property values) but decided against it.
Thank goodness.
The point is, we’re already out there. We’re way past what Chris most fears, all of us. It takes just a few minutes with the Google to collect highlights of all the personal data and insights of any of us.
My own response is to try and live as though I’m always on TV. That may sound extreme, but so far as I know I’m the only Dana Blankenhorn extant (a long story) and, as a writer seeking to extend the reach of my name, it seems necessary.
This does not make me a prisoner. I retain my freedom, to think, to write, to work in my own way. I’m not inclined to many things that would be terribly embarrassing if known, and I plan to continue that way.
That is the bitter. But here is the sweet. We can track trends. We can know what is happening, while it’s happening, and we really don’t have to violate anyone’s privacy in order to do it.
Chris has a lot more to fear from all the Little Brothers than the Big Brother of Google. As do we all.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist since 1978, and has covered technology since 1982. He launched the Interactive Age Daily, the first daily coverage of the Internet to launch with a magazine, in September 1994. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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