Mailbag: Google and Privacy
A couple recently
sued
Google for invasion of privacy after Google took pictures in their private
driveway for its Street View tool. Doug asked readers whether they think we
have enough privacy from Google and others. Here are some of your responses:
I think that you're just trying to bash Google ANY chance you get. Please
try to write from a more unbiased position.
-Anonymous
There have always been technologies to compromise privacy, from telescopes
to wiretaps. It does not mean that there is no longer a right to privacy.
Google's argument is chutzpah, which is classically defined as a child killing
his parents and then begging leniency from the court on the grounds that he
is an orphan.
-Stephen
In the age we are in, we have to be very careful to not have our rights
bulldozed over by a bunch of arrogant, rich companies who only see the moment
and their profits. This type of blind disregard for the views, wants, desires
and needs of those who currently are not in power can lead to serious backlash
when the infamous worm turns. People will only stand for so much before they
rise in mass and overthrow an oppressor.
Since the chains that bind us to companies such as Google are only those
of personal choice, they can be severed in a heartbeat. Google needs to tread
very carefully in this matter. There are plenty of alternatives for each and
every function it offers. Piss us off and we as a people could shut them down
by the most deadly method available in this Internet age: We could ignore
them.
-Mike
Read "Woodswoman II: Beyond Black Bear Lake." If you're not
familiar with who the author is, she's a self-described advocate for the environment
and especially for the Adirondack Mountains. But what I found interesting
in this book was the fact that she moved from a pretty obscure lake in the
Adirondack Mountains to a super-obscure lake due to the fact her fans kept
on trying to find her. Now, if she doesn't have privacy (she actually fought
the USAF and won on the fact they aren't allowed to fly over her place anymore),
who does?
I'd be interested in the details of that case you cited. I'll bet the
couple didn't have "posted property" signs on their road. Also,
if they really think their road is a private road, then it should be gated.
Also, it could be declared "public" if they have a deal with the
state/locality for road maintenance. There are "private road" signs
up in one hood in my county, but people go up them all the time to "house
view." Unfortunately for them, unless they took really stern measures
to safeguard the privacy of the road, they don't stand a chance in court.
However, Google's take on it is pretty bad, too, and that isn't right either.
-Bruce
Vista is the least-favorite
OS of one more reader...but a few more of you think it's not all that bad:
From 1985, my company used DOS, Windows 3, 95, 98, ME, XP Pro and Vista
Ultimate. All except Vista were certainly acceptable and our real favorite
is XP. We tried Vista on two new machines and after five months, had the hard
drives reformatted to remove all traces of it and put XP Pro on them. The
effort of installing XP and reinstalling our applications was certainly worth
to get rid of Vista.
-Gerry
I like Vista. Most all of the negative comments I've read to date concerning
Vista is just whining. The only downside that I've experienced has been support
for drivers, primarily equipment older than two years and adding print drivers
in a locked-down environment. This took a lot of time to resolve due to the
new driver signing requirements. In fact, MS said it couldn't be done, but
we proved them wrong. If you're ready for a hardware refresh, it doesn't make
sense to look backward.
-Greg
In my experience, I think that Vista itself is pretty much where enterprise
needs it to be -- although you need to have a pretty modern PC to get the
most from it. Unfortunately, it is third-party support that is still lacking.
For example, the Cisco VPN client for Vista does not have the same level of
functionality as the client under XP. You cannot, for example, pre-connect
the VPN before logging onto the PC, which is an absolutely necessary for remote
GPO updates, etc.
I don't know if Microsoft can do anything to help third parties overcome
these issues, but the slow adoption of Vista is not entirely of Microsoft's
making.
-Philip
And Jonathan wonders why OneCare's more obscure OEM supporters
got
mentioned in a recent Redmond Report, but not others:
I saw your post regarding Microsoft's Windows Live OneCare announcement
in the Redmond Report and wanted to thank you for the coverage, but I'm also
hoping you can provide some clarity as to why you omitted mention of Sony
and Toshiba from the list of participants. I understand that OEM deals outside
the U.S. may not be relevant to all of your readers, but I'm concerned that
actively excluding mention of Sony and Toshiba in your commentary provides
a limited view of the actual news that was announced.
-Jonathan
Got something to say? Let us know! Leave a comment below or send an e-mail
to [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on August 04, 2008