Leonid Bershidsky writes how you can avoid Google data collection by not using the company’s two biggest tools: Search and Chrome.
Ditching Chrome and Search, however, is an easy way to reduce the amount of information Google gets, essentially without users’ informed consent despite its pro forma compliance with European regulations.
Google says it uses the data collection of Chrome and Search to subsidize other products. Well, if the company is willing to charge phone manufacturers for those products, why not end users? Putting a price on the Google apps, against a promise of no data collection, would quickly show which of them are viable.
I really think Google should offer a paid tier for all of its services. And have the paid tier be free of advertising and data collection. Otherwise it’s eventually going to get regulated into the dirt like Microsoft in the 90s.
Check It Out: Avoid Google Data Collection By Not Using Two Services
Who cares if Google data collects?? You got something to hide? At least it’s not a secret and they are not pulling anything illegal or immoral or unethical – and since most people freely give up their data every day by shopping and using credit and buying gas and using social media and paying taxes, being employed and voting, ordering online on and on – then hypocrite’s opinions just don’t matter – you just made yourself a liar. Apple collects your data – just read the TOS and stop this gas lighting. If you want ANY “smart” device from phones to SIRI to TVs to actually be smart they ALL force you to give up your location and many other details. But who cares? I don’t. I’m not under any illusions that Apple is any better than A,T&T or Google or Tesla’s machine learning neural network that uses ALL Tesla owner’s driving “record” to improve AP. Remember- as AI becomes “normal” it will depend on the collective- the swarm – and the few people that have this fake “privacy” problem can either join the collective – or not bitch about being left behind in the IOT world of smart cars and appliances houses and solar systems. “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” – Read the TOS for ANY Apple service my friends. Immediate proof? Invoke SIRI on your desktop Mac and ask where the best local Pizza is. (w/o sharing your location)🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕
Boy, what a fartblossom that Cudaboy nit is… that idiot that was the 793rd person to sign up for this great site back when you could rumble against the Big Blue and buy a shirt off a MacOb sponsor – a nice teal tee that had a white clone of microsoft logo that read microsuck ; get beat up all day and still smile – ol’ Rodney O and the rest…. I dunno maybe that’s why I seem grumpy – the underdog back then had a superior product and vision – the overdog today hit the ball out of the park 10 freaking years ago and hasn’t grown since. If you watch the Jobs reveal of the iPhone – he was pitching “it doesn’t have buttons – it won’t go obsolete when the interface changes every 3-4 years.” Really? So you can do a yearly update every year as a business strategy??? It used to be Moore’s Law – that’s why I didn’t mind upgrading a Mac computer but this AAPL ain’t the same. Rant over. No, wait. Not even a white carbon fiber EV hybrid bicycle with Nav, re-gen brakes and Cruise like a Cannondale on steroids??? Ahhh forget it. 🎸
I would not use a Google product even if they did offer a paid service. “No data collection” implies they can be trusted not to do so. They have proven, repeatedly, they cannot be.