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Google has launched an anti-propaganda site, designed to give open internet campaigners a platform from which to shout about the importance of keeping pale grey government hands off our web access rights.
The Take Action page seems to be focussing mainly on the actions of the International Telecommunication Union, which is planning what Google describes as a “closed-door meeting” on December 3rd to talk about re-negotiating the old internet communications treaty and possibly opening the door to future web censorship.
Google’s main concern is that the ITU operates in secret and takes guidance from governments, with no input from the companies that build and maintain the web. Plus it makes mention of the introduction of “tolls” for content providers to pay in order to access certain markets, which would limit Google’s plans to eventually dominate the planet. [Google via Techradar]
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So google can spy on people but the governments cant?
How nice of google!
I’d take Google anyday…
Why? You only have cause for concern if the government spies on you if you are doing anything illegal.
Google on the other hand hasa history of employees reading peoples inboxes, being hacked by China and using your information to target you with adds.
To b fair, I think China are hacking everybody. Don’t ever download Skype when you’re in China. It’s got a backdoor that they use to snoop on you. Always try and get it from either the Hong Kong page, or have it already downloaded from home.
You always know where you stand with Google, they want to target advertising at you and improve their creepy ‘we know what your looking for before you do’ type search results.
Governments, well they have a very different agenda.
Not really, you have many things that you may be doing that aren’t illegal but can deeply compromise a professional career if the powers that be want to stop you. Sexuality is one such thing, as is political persuasion, as is bitchy online exchanges. Then you have things that aren’t even compromising until they are placed into context, like you become the new Drugs Tsar for the UK and they have a record of you campaigning to legalise drugs in your teens.
On the whole I guess it is true that you are OK unless you are doing anything wrong, but that doesn’t mean I want to give permission to create a black ops dossier on me that can be used against me whenever I don’t conform to another’s requests.
The classic reply “if you are doing anything illegal”, don’t throw your civil liberties in the bin, Wars were fought and millions people died in order to free us from tyranny and oppression (National Socialism ring any bells?), do you want to live fear of a state’s Stasi, imagine the constant fear for example North Korea? wake up!!!
No party would ever get elected on a manifesto of “we will spy on you just in case you break a law you didn’t know existed!”
You cant play the north korea card…. Its not like they have a choice who is in charge of the country… Where as if this country got out of control with stuff like this, the people are in charge so they can just kick out the government….
We have a luxury that not many countries truly have.