Hat tip to Archblog for this one. From the Financial Times we get Google’s great ambition; to know all about us:
Google’s ambition to maximise the personal information it holds on users is so great that the search engine envisages a day when it can tell people what jobs to take and how they might spend their days off.
Now, there are those who will expect me to be horrified by this and engage in a knee jerk reaction. Sorry to disappoint… Google is a private company and I am under no obligation to help them satisfy their thirst for knowledge. That said, I can’t say that this thirst for knowledge is something I care for over much, but it is entirely up to users to decide just how much information they wish to share.
“The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’ ”
Funny, that; I can answer both those questions without any help whatsoever from Google. I intend to carry on precisely as I am. Google is a great search engine, but a life coach, it ain’t and I’ve no plans to use it as such. And there you have it; I can choose to ignore Google and I can choose not to ask them the questions I’m perfectly capable of managing for myself.
Mr Schmidt told journalists in London: “We cannot even answer the most basic questions because we don’t know enough about you. That is the most important aspect of Google’s expansion.”
Actually, you know quite enough, thank you. You are free to ask the question and I am free to decline – and I fully intend to do so.
He said Google’s newly relaunched iGoogle service, which allows users to personalise their own Google search page and publish their own content, would be a key feature.
And there is the crux of it… choice. I will choose not to personalise my Google search page and as a consequence, I choose not to be bombarded with personalised adverts; it really is that simple. Google asks and I politely refuse. If you want to give them personal information, then they will be more than happy to oblige – and you won’t see me standing in your way.
The Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK said it was not concerned about the personalisation developments.
Neither am I.
how deep will they go in mining your personal data ?
“Google has expanded its mission to lay bare the world’s information by investing in a company set up by its co-founder’s wife that lets users trawl their genetic profile online.”
from the Times today
next, keyboards that analyse sweat and skin particles ?
Although I find the general trend disturbing, Google won’t be trying to fine me for not signing up to 23andMe. Therein lies the difference – a huge difference.