SevenCubed - 4:37 pm on Feb 12, 2013 (gmt 0)

+1 bill

And I'll just add the fact that google themselves have said numerous times they NEVER "knowingly" delete ANYTHING once they have consumed it.

It's no wonder governments go to them as a source of information to violate the privacy of it's citizens.

It's no secret in this forum that I'm a strong advocate of privacy. In fact most developed countries of the world have branches of government setup to help their citizens protect their privacy. In research I haven't been able to find any such universal body for our American cousins? At best it appears it is relegated to each state individually? At worst, on the FBI's website, they claim if anyone objects strongly to privacy concerns it's because they have something to hide! Wow the governments of countries like Canada, U.K, Australia, New Zealand, probably most EU countries must be dumb then for helping their citizens to protect their privacy because according to the FBI any American complaining about it must be up to no good. Sad.

It's very obviou$ by now that the American executive branch is not going to rein in google which leaves it up to us individually. Realistically how much can any one of us do for ourselves -- not much I'm guessing -- I know I can't. The best I can do is make sure I'm not contributing to the problem by ensuring websites under my control are not going overboard tracking visitor behaviour.

I think Microsoft learned their lessons from years ago and the anti-trust judgements they got slammed with have made them change their ways. They aren't perfect but I think they are among the best qualified to help us push back against the likes of google and its repository of profiles. I've seen members here state that google doesn't "care about us personally" but rest assured that people chasing boogeymen do care about all that data that google scans and retains (forever) in emails.

I for one am very grateful for Microsoft putting up some of their profits in awareness campaigns like this to help us try to slow down the ridiculousness that google has become. At this point it might be for Microsoft's own selfish motive to try to increase their own market share but at least it will help bring about much needed awareness. My hope is that American corporations that have a stranglehold on the internet will wake up to the fact that just because their own country laws allow them to run freely doesn't mean that other civilized countries of the world have the same mentality. Many of them continue to violate Canadian privacy laws daily. I know it's just due to the nature of the internet being borderless. I'm also well aware that we are in the infancy of the internet and that a generation of us are the guinea pigs. Well for those studying me -- I protest against your all-out quest to turn the internet into a resource purely for commercial purposes. Find the balance. Leave a few stones unturned. Get your noses of people's mail google, and have the decency to realize when we delete mail in our inbox you should too (permanently).

The best third-party source that I can refer to that explains what I am saying here would probably be Mikko Hypponen on Ted(.)com -- a video titled Three Types of Online Attack. He is right when he says in the end it's not giving up our privacy that should concern us -- it's allowing ourselves to be controlled.