MSNBC has an article today where Google defends its cooperation with Chinese censorship. Choice quotes from CEO Eric Schmidt include:"We believe that the decision that we made to follow the law in China was absolutely the right one," Schmidt said…
Category: Platforms
Google Putting your Traffic Data to Use?
With tools like Google Toolbar, Google Analytics, Web Accelerator, Adsense and Adwords, Google has a variety of means of collecting information about where users browse (with Toolbar & Accelerator, they can track your browsing off of Google properties as well).…
Google Wi-Fi requries Google Account; Info Held 6 Months
This San Francisco Chronicle article notes that the Google municipal wi-fi service will require users to create a Google account and log on to access the free service. While (savvy) users can create anonymous accounts, requiring a login makes it…
Read More Google Wi-Fi requries Google Account; Info Held 6 Months
Google Wi-Fi as State Agent?
Following up on these privacy concerns with municipal wi-fi programs, I am beginning to wonder to what extent the providers of muni-wi-fi (such as Google) might be considered "state agents" when it comes to the collecting of personal information via…
Google Wins Right to Track Wi-Fi Users in San Francisco
A partnership between Google and Earthlink beat other bids to provide municipal wi-fi to the citizens of San Francisco. While muni-wi-fi is definitely a step towards lessening the digital divide, this particular plan is not as "free" as Google says…
Read More Google Wins Right to Track Wi-Fi Users in San Francisco
Susan Crawford on “Seeing Privacy”
Susan Crawford has an excellent post that expresses much more intelligently what I've been thinking about lately regarding some of the privacy implications of social networks and other online information services, noting how "social networks are rich minefields for privacy…
Maryland to Engage in Wholesale Scanning of License Plates
Maryland is continuing its march towards wholesale surveillance of its citizens on the roads by announcing plans to use license plate recognition systems to scan and identify the plates of any vehicle a specially-equipped car happens to drive past. Marc…
Read More Maryland to Engage in Wholesale Scanning of License Plates
The State of Web 2.0
Web 2.0 proponent Dion Hinchcliffe evangelizes about the virtues of Web 2.0: Invariably, Web 2.0 is a term you love to hate or hate to love but either way, you'll know you'll get folk's attention by saying it. I've been…
The Privacy Costs of Municipal Wi-Fi
Chris Hoofnagle points to a very important article in the Nation by Jeff Chester discussing the privacy costs of many of the proposals for municipal wi-fi, including Google's plan for San Francisco. The benefits of muni-wi-fi are great, but proposals…
NYC24 Issue on Privacy
The Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University publishes a biweekly news magazine called NYC24. The current issue is on privacy:With 8 million people crammed into 321 square miles, privacy in New York City has always been a rare –…
MichaelZimmer.org 
You must be logged in to post a comment.