Google knows too much about you

By Frida Ghitis, Special to CNN

updated 10:28 AM EST, Thu February 9, 2012

Frida Ghitis says online hoarding of our private information is not something we can afford to "dismiss."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Google recently changed its privacy policy to consolidate user's data
• Frida Ghitis: if Americans paid more attention, they would be troubled by the new policy
• Ghitis: Our private information belongs to us and nobody else -- not to Google, not to Facebook
• She says we should follow Europe's example and call for changes in law

Editor's note: Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review. A former CNN producer/correspondent, she is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television."
(CNN) -- If you use Google, and I know you do, you may have noticed a little banner popping up at the top of the page announcing: "We're changing our privacy policy and terms." It gives you the choice to "Learn More" or, another option, the one I'm betting most people followed, to "Dismiss."
Who wants to read about what Google plans to do with all that information it has about us?
I, too, clicked "Dismiss." That's because the very idea of considering what Google knows about me can give me heartburn. And if that happens, I may want to Google "heartburn," and then I'll wonder if my insurance company will find out that I was searching "heartburn," or, worse, that one day I will apply for a new insurance company and the side effects of having considered what Google knows will result in a denial of coverage. But I digress.

Facebook, senator blast bosses asking for passwords

Employers and colleges that demand Facebook passwords or other access to social network profiles are doing more than violating the First Amendment, as advocates argue. They're also violating Facebook's terms of service.

Almost three weeks after Bob Sullivan of msnbc.com's Red Tape Chronicles first broke the story of government agencies and colleges demanding inappropriate access to Facebook accounts, both the social network and a U.S. senator are calling shenanigans on this violation of privacy, which is also a potential liability problem for the inquiring institutions.

Twitter Is The Latest Company To Admit It Uploads Your Address Book

 

Yes we’ve LOST our right to privacy. We’ve never really had it actually.

Twitter has joined the list of companies making sheepish confessions that it uploads your Smartphone's address book when you install its app.

Last week Path made a similar disclosure, which was followed by changes by photo app Instagram to give users more privacy controls. And that led to a bit of discovery by Smartphone users themselves that nothing is truly free.

See…All you elitist’s are being spied on. My Tracfone LG500g but isn’t compatible with the apps that are spying on everyone.

 

Technorati Tags: smartphones,apps,twitter,invasion of privacy,twitter uploads address from smartphones

How Smartphone Apps Spy On You

WSJ's Julia Angwin explains to Simon Constable how Smartphone apps collect and broadcast data about your habits. Many don't have privacy policies and there isn't much you can do about it.

Technorati Tags: Smartphones,apps,privacy