Intellitactics

We love Google, we use Google. It's part of our lexicon - it's become a verb - like "google it" or "I was googling.. . ." where googling equates with searching. In fact the other day someone said "I was on BING googling about the weight of a cubic foot of snow . . .". This post is about the international impact of Google's business practices. We've commented on other Google shennanigans in previous posts. This time Warren Axelrod shares more Google stories and his opinion on Google's global responsibilities. 

From the desk of Warren Axelrod: Consider the position presented by Eric Pfanner in the New York Times article “In Europe, Challenges for Google on Privacy and Copyright Protection”, (February 2, 2010 issue of The New York Times, Section B). Privacy issues aren’t new to Google. In the town of Molfsee in Germany they resented Google’s app Street View taking pictures of the streets in their town. The German minister of justice accuses Google of “tearing down privacy protections.” Now the Italian government “has proposed a law making online video services … liable for invasions of privacy, copyright and other transgressions that occur in user-generated content.” The article further reports that four Google executives are on trial in Italy, having been “charged with defamation and privacy violations in a case involving videos posted on a Google Web site that showed the bullying of a boy with autism.” The article goes on to list other issues in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

 I think you can see the irony when comparing and contrasting Google fighting to protect users’ email privacy in China while also fighting to violate perceived privacy rights in other countries. Is Google guilty of establishing a double standard?

As a multi-national company based in the US,  I believe that Google has a responsibility for doing business in foreign countries according to the laws in that country. There was no popular vote in the US conveying power to Google to force our Bill of Rights or Constitution on other governments.

 I continue to question why Google appears to have been allowed to run roughshod over the privacy and property-ownership rights of individuals in the US.  My personal view is that the legal and regulatory systems throughout the world move at a far slower pace than does Google in its introduction of new features. The former are always playing catch-up, usually after the damage has already been done.

I think it is time that we saw more privacy and property rights protection laws on the books, which anticipate technology innovations and advances, and enforcement that nips potential violations in the bud. Once something is released onto the Internet, it cannot be retrieved or revoked. And, thanks to technologies like Google and others, there are ready searches of prior publications where these remain accessible forever.

In my opinion, it is damaging to our National credibility and reputation to be represented by Google in this way. I also think that Google needs to take on greater responsibility for proactively protecting personal privacy and other rights and for rolling back the features, services and capabilities that threaten to compromise those rights as they are recognized in this or other countries. This should apply to whichever side of the fence Google finds itself.