This is going to sound like a "Big Brother" conspiracy theory that's always been the basis for many a
science fiction novel's premise.
I assure you it's not.
A few weeks ago when Google had a big button saying "Read our new Privacy Policy - This Stuff Matters", did
anyone actually read it?
I didn't- at first.
Then I started seeing all the new atrocious stories on the major news sites, and went back and read it.
They pretty well said (paraphrased, but not much):
"We'll collect anything and everything possible on you and use it to any and all advantage to us."
The "almighty" Microsoft themselves (and several other browsers, but not Google Chrome, naturally)
have added an add-on to Internet Explorer under "Tracking Protection" named "Stop Google Tracking TPL".
Can you believe it? (It's needed purpose and the actual name of the thing itself? I mean, they're not
pulling any punches)
(It's at http://ie.microsoft..../p3p/google.txt)
Anyway, much to my surprise, chagrin and extreme displeasure, and I had never heard of it, much less
it's location, I saw an address in one of the aforementioned news articles where to actually see some of the
info they were collecting.
Just sign into your Google account. (Doesn't matter where you do it. Your Gmail, YouTube, or just about anywhere
that have those now popular "Sign in with your Google ID".
Enter, or copy and paste, https://www.google.com/history in the browser's address bar.
I guarantee you'll be surprised and shocked as I was.
You'll now see not only all your searches you've typed into Google going back for MONTHS, but names of
other sites you've visited that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Google.
While you're there, you can "delete" all the info and "pause" any further collection, but you can bet your
bottom dollar that isn't completely true. Probably not even partially true.
EDIT: Case in point, there's a February 2012 article in the the Wall Street Journal entitled "It’s Microsoft
vs. Google in a Web-Tracking Battle". However, it mentions the circumvention of the policy , but not the
technicalities. (Site listed in "References:" below)
Here they are, in part:
They do it by bypassing the W3C's P3P "recommendation". I won't say "policy" here, because the W3C is a very
hard-working entity trying it's darn best to keep the web navigable, is my explanation of them in a nutshell.
How can this be legal? Accordingly, if the FTC, White House, Congress, and others
have their way, it soon won't be; read further below
Just search on it and read about the P3P (W3C is "World Wide Web Consortium" and P3P is "Platform for Privacy
Preferences Project ".
Here's how Goggle gets in and tracks you without your consent and EVEN with your explicit non-consent, barring the
addition of the "non-tracking lists" used by Internet Explorer and others.
But even those, you better believe, will also be circumvented, sooner or later.
Surely sooner, since Google does, as is public knowledge, have in their employment many of the very best minds
in the industry.
For example, this is the P3P received from visitors to Microsoft.com's site
(some "tokens" not listed, for brevity)
P3P: CP="ALL IND SAMo CNT TAI COM INT ONL PUR UNI"
For example, the tokens ‘SAMo’ indicates that ‘We [the site] share information with Legal entities
following our practices,’ and (IMPORTANTLY) ‘TAI’ indicates ‘Information may be used to tailor or
modify content or design of the site where the information is used only for a single visit to the site and
not used for any kind of future customization.’
Now here's how Google gets in:
They send a P3P statement to your browser all right (as recommended by W3C that ALL sites do, but not all comply,
although not with the malicious intent that Google does. Some sites report that there are simply mispellings
and such that cause it not to be completely legitimate and it does no real harm.)
Here's what Google's contains to inject tracking cookies:
P3P: CP="This is not a P3P policy! See http://www.google.co...in/answer.py?hl=
en&answer=151657 for more info."
P3P-compliant browsers interpret Google’s policy as indicating (by serious omission) that the cookie policy
is legitimate and will not be used for any tracking purpose or really any but benign purpose at all.
However, it certainly does, can, and will.
By sending this text, Google bypasses the cookie protection and enables its third-party cookies to be
allowed rather than blocked, even if explicitly blocked, as mentioned before.
(You'll notice that in some of these the practice (not by Google, but many, started as far back as 1996,
but started to get serious in 2010, and starting this February (2012) REALLY serious i.e. the advocacy group
Consumer Watchdog issued a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission, alleging that Google was actively
bypassing Safari Web browsers' privacy policies)
References:
Wall Street Journal article, Digits, Technology News and Insights, February 20,2012.
(http://blogs.wsj.com...racking-battle/)
USA Today, (source: The Associated Press) (Article concerning call by President Obama to the FTC for
Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, alluding to, but not naming the present issue) (Undated)
(http://www.usatoday....vacy/53812814/1)
Commentary by Dr. Lorrie Faith Cranor, Associate Professor of Computer Science with Carnigie Mellon University.
(http://www.readwrite...3p-ineffect.php)
University of Utah Privacy and Technology Think Tank, February 22, 2012
(http://gounlisted.wo...privacy-battle/)
Battle Creek Enquirer, February 21, 2012
(http://gounlisted.wo...privacy-battle/)
Many others, just search the Internet for "Google P3P", "Google versus Microsoft P3P policies",
etc.
I recommend using Yahoo to search
Thank you for your time.
Hopefully, I informed a few people, however little, at no fault but my own.
As always,
Yours,
Hugh Abernathy, A+