There is no doubt that Google has become the largest advertising company on the Internet. The majority of their revenue comes from targeting advertisements to specific consumer needs and this is basically done by collecting data on consumer surfing habits. The collection of this data has come under scrutiny and Google expands its operations after their acquisition of You Tube and its proposed purchase of Double Click. There is much being said on the Internet about privacy concerns and exactly what Google is doing with all of the data they collect about all of us. The main concern by privacy groups is that Google may know to much about us.

Which brings up the question is Google a real threat to our privacy or is this just hype?

Before the Internet it was Madison Avenue that controlled basically what advertisements we were bombarded with. Data was collected by ad agencies and was used to control what advertisements we saw in print or on television based on consumer preference. These advertisements were geared for a specific market. Even agencies such as Gallup or Nielsen collected data but we were not concerned since the database was limited compared to what Google collects.

Next we went through a phase where we became bombarded will telephone solicitations, junk postal mail, Internet spam and other annoyances that also relied on a collection of data about ourselves. Add to this the collection of data when we apply for credit via credit cards, home mortgages, auto loans and so forth and the thought of all these companies having this information is scary. Not a day goes by that some company somewhere doesn’t either lose a laptop computer or suffer a computer break in which data is compromised.

I personally believe that we lost control of data collection long before Google came around. This company has only been in existence for about 10 years. Yet personal data has been collected about all of us since we started climbing out of our cribs. For us to be concerned about a company collecting data about our surfing habits seems a bit absurd to me. Maybe we should direct our focus on companies that warehouse our personal data and make them increase their security procedures. Or wonder why Microsoft can access our computers at will to update files behind our backs. Or with the break in to Homeland Security recently in the news, what information may have been compromised.

Of course there is one other option. No one is forcing us to use Google search or You Tube. We can always opt out and use Yahoo, MSN or other search engine. I’m sure they don’t collect any information and it is only Google who does.
What do you think? Does Google pose a REAL threat to us?

Comments welcome.

Tags: google, threat, data, mining, collection, threat, information, security