Journal created:
on 11 March 2011 (#35868992)
Updated:
on 20 April 2016
Name:
I Hate Google
Location:
United States
Membership:
Open
Posting Access:
Anybody , Moderated
Description:
We are against Google's illegal and immoral activities.
"Don't Be Evil"
Sorry, Google, you've failed miserably.
Hello there, curious passerby, I suppose you might be wondering why we hate Google?
Well, there are an alarming number of reasons:
+The destruction of all that was great about YouTube
+Forced Google Account creation in order to continue using your already existing YouTube account (if you think you "registered" your account with a Yahoo/Hotmail/other email address, here's a nasty surprise: you didn't. You just created a Google Account without realising it, and now they are tracking everything you do on YT - talk to us here on LJ for help undoing this).
http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/10/Google-Forces-Youtube-Account-Linking.aspx
+Google-approved internet censorship in foreign countries, such as China
+Google illegally taking photographs for its "Google Street View" in locations where it has been banned. Some people would prefer that their house/car/children playing outside NOT be photographed and splattered all over the internet - stalking victims, for instance. Or anyone who values basic privacy.
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Google-Street-View-SAS-MI5,news-6201.html
+Google's sorely lacking privacy policy that allows it to collect information about you Big Brother-style, and do basically whatever it wants with that information.
+Google illegally collecting masses of personal data from users of Wi-Fi networks using its Street View Vehicles.
http://www.darknet.org.uk/2010/07/australian-privacy-commissioner-rules-google-wifi-actions-illegal/
+Targeted advertising/personal information collection without permission or a way to opt out. Ever wonder why all the ads on Google seem to know where you live or what websites you've been looking at recently? That's because Google is collecting information about you without your permission, including your home location.
+Google's attempt to force users to link their YouTube and Facebook or Twitter accounts. Users should be able to opt out of this without being further hassled about it later. Not everyone wants their Facebook/Twitter friends and colleagues to know exactly what they've been looking at on YouTube! Plus, if someone hacked into your YouTube account, then they would also have access to all your info on FB or Twitter.
If these haven't convinced you, maybe you work for Google.
Community owner's comment: Please note that though I see Google's search engine (and several other services) as far superior to any other I've used, I cannot in good conscience support this corporation considering the above infringements on personal internet freedoms and privacy.
Interesting Links:
Consumer WatchDog's Inside Google - reports on Google's illegal and unethical activities
http://insidegoogle.com/about/
Disturbingly Large List of Google Products
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products
Google Street View May Be Illegal In Europe
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article1893385.ece
Google Illegally Collects Personal Data From Wireless Network Users
http://www.fastcompany.com/1668567/google-maps-street-view-wi-fi-wireless-snooping-personal-data-congress
Alternatives to YouTube:
http://www.metacafe.com/
http://megavideo.com/
http://vimeo.com/
Alternatives to Google Search:
http://www.duckduckgo.com (no-tracking search engine!)
http://www.yahoo.com/
http://www.altavista.com/
http://www.lycos.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines
Programs & add-ons to help you be invisible on the web:
http://donttrack.us/
(scroll to bottom of page for list)
YouTube, LLC
901 Cherry Ave.
San Bruno, CA 94066
USA
Phone: +1 650-253-0000
Fax: +1 650-253-0001
Google-Haters' Comments From Around The Web:
"Transparency? Ok.
What about all the myriad software companies and tools Google has bought on the quiet, assimilated into it's data-gathering and hoarding modus operandi?
Phone OS and telephones- buying companies that can real-time transcribe. Satellite imagery. Text correspondence and chat. Blogs. User created photo libraries.
Chrome is a PC operating system masked in a browser. It will lead to all your data being stored remotely, in Google servers, removing the need for HDs of any real size.
Add to this complete collection of every bit of data on you, your whereabouts, your communications, your intentions- add to this the most sophisticated and powerful search engine algorithms, and we should all be scared.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Google_products
Google is that company in all those sci fi dystopias. It is CyberDyne, Omni, the ICS Netwrork, the Soylent Corp, Tyrell and MNU.
We are sleepwalking into oblivion. Civil rights won't mean a thing in this future."
-indrossi in response to http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/20/google-google-street-view
---
"KNOW THAT WHEN YOU'RE LOGGED ON TO YOUTUBE NOW (if you've already linked) GOOGLE WILL KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SEARCHING OUTSIDE OF YOUTUBE WHILE YOU'RE ON THE NET AS WELL. Therefore having youtube or your email on at any point in time will give away privacy information and keep track of what you've done online. I'm officially done with all social sites!"
-Kasia in response to http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/10/Google-Forces-Youtube-Account-Linking.aspx
---
""We believe (in) greater transparency" says the company that flat-out refuses to discuss the extended delays victims of harassment suffer following abuse of their servers.
Get your own house in order, Google... or at least have the guts to discuss the problem, rather than sweeping it under the carpet. *Then* you can lecture others about transparency
(Google claim to have a response time of 48 hours if, for example, a home address or other sensitive data is published. The truth is that the response time is closer to 48 days in some cases, and this applies across the board; on Blogger, YouTube and Gmail. I have raised with Google at an executive level and repeatedly been given the brush-off, even on matters where Google staff have still failed to follow up on abuse complaints in any way, months after they were made.)"
-Bloggerheads in response to http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/apr/20/google-google-street-view
---
"Coming soon from GOOGLE!
IN-HOME MAPPING!
Don't mind us."
-Belardo in response to http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Google-Street-View-SAS-MI5,news-6201.html
---
"This is preposterous. I don't want to compromise my privacy or account security by linking everything together. Google is trying to monopolize the internet, and someone has to stop them.
If Salar Kamangar got run over by a dump truck full of nytro glycerin, I would applaud, and the world would be a better place.
The reason I got gmail was because Yahoo compromised Privacy, and now look at this! I'm appalled by Googles gross disregard for our rights, and I'm not going to bend over for it.
I hope someone sues Google for every penny it's worth, and that Youtube gets set free from this disgusting tyranny."
-Kat in response to http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/01/10/Google-Forces-Youtube-Account-Linking.aspx
Would You Like To Join Us?
Please talk to us! You don't have to have a LiveJournal account to make posts or leave comments in this community (you can be anonymous), and I have turned OFF IP address logging for all comments.
Feel free to gripe, complain, make plans, brainstorm, and chat with fellow Google-haters in our community.
Stay on topic and I won't have to banninate anyone. I DO reserve the right to act like a dictator in order to keep this comm free of drama and/or spam.
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