The truth about Facebook & Google, and maybe why that’s not a bad thing.
In the wake of several beatings lately, especially from the Ind.ie camp, I’m putting across my side of the story sticking up for the likes of Google, Facebook and other sites a lot of people take for granted and seem to criticise, but never take into account the benefits of doing so.
Freedom of speech is a great thing, and one that has allowed many things to change across the world. From equal rights for blacks and minorities, to mass protests against war across the world and activists standing up to their right to bear arms in America.
There comes a point though, when that freedom of speech turns into a hate campaign, one centered on that individual’s or group’s need to prove the point they are better than that they are protesting against. Westborough Baptist Church is one such example, as is the recent upsurging of IS (Islamic State). These do nothing except garner hatred and support for the very thing they’re protesting against, all because they think that if they shout the loudest, they’ll change people’s mind. Not so. Often, some of the biggest changes have come from the smallest of voices, those who respect the world around them and accept that change is a big thing to accomplish.
Consider that Google, as gigantic as it is now, was started as an idea by two friends in college, and Facebook was started by a failed college graduate in his spare time. It’s hard to imagine such tiny beginnings for two huge companies but you can’t deny that they have now shaped the world we live in, and not just on the internet. Facebook and Google are every day words brought up in everyday conversations, showing a remarkable transcendence from the digital world to the physical.
Google is a behemoth, there’s no denying it. From email, to search; from maps to translation; there’s something for almost everyone thanks to Google. And most of their services are free. Zilch. Nada. So, where’s the catch?
The catch is that by using their services, you allow Google to be able to look into your life by gathering information for targeted ads, and information for allowing sign in across other apps and services. A cost, but for free, what do you really expect? A lot of people moan and whinge about Google being able to collect the information it does for using its services, but when there’s no cost, do you really expect to get something for nothing? Especially when that something allows a fuck load of people to be able to design and host websites, email their relatives across the other side of the world, or translate a love poem their loved one has sent them in Mandarin.
Sure, we all like free things. As a rather self-centered civilisation, we have come to expect that we are entitled to something for nothing, despite the world being a richer place than it ever was. However, there’s free and there’s ‘free’.
By choosing to use Google’s products for free you, in part, give a part of your privacy away to the company, thus a charge of sorts. I would imagine that if Google suddenly introduced a charge for every service they run, a lot of people wouldn’t hesitate in closing their accounts and looking for the next free option. And for what? For that new free option to do exactly what Google are doing.
I know that privacy is a much valued commodity, one that should be respected and trusted with. In a world where the internet is open and people are often only one search away, the right to privacy online is paramount. However, you cannot seriously expect to have an email account, look for directions, design and host websites, use open-source tools such as Android, Chromium and WebM all with the same provider for free and not to expect to give something up. It’s unreal. However, this is the world we live in today. We are given the illusion of free, but don’t realise there’s a cost for everything. And that cost with Google is to sign a portion of your privacy away. And I’m fine with that.
Why? Because I appreciate and respect the way Google handle their business and privacy. At the end of the day, I don’t have anything to hide, nothing to feel ashamed about or have any fear that Google is collecting information I want to keep private. Sure, they have their issues with tax and the fact they don’t pay as much as they should in many countries and often are cited for human rights violations in respect to the Google StreetView project. However, many companies do exactly the same: Amazon, Starbucks, Vodafone.
There are also plenty of options in your Google account settings, from turning off Ad Targeting, to minimising the data you send to Google. Naysayers may scoff and say that they collect anyway, but until there’s proof, I’ll believe their Privacy Policy that are written by lawyers wearing shoes worth 3 of my lifetime wages.
Facebook, in all fairness, are in a very similar position to Google, in that they offer a lot services, and collect data from users using these services. From Messenger, which allows people to communicate without even needing an account, to the acquisition of Instagram, Facebook are almost equal to Google in terms of the variety and scope of the applications and sites they control. And all for free.
And, like Google, Facebook always get it in the neck when it comes to privacy or targeting users. Since the platform became commercially recognisable, there have been posts, messages and rumours of Facebook bringing a charge system in, with even Mark Zuckerburg stating that this will never happen. Why? Because they don’t need to charge when the end user’s information is much more profitable to them than a monthly subscription — which will likely still collect the information anyway.
Unlike Google, though, if they were to introduce a paid subscription, their user drop off would not be as immediate or as widespread as Google. This is because Facebook has integrated into our lives in a way that it’s actually quite hard to imagine not to have a Facebook account in 2015. Whereas Google has competitors from Bing and Yahoo!, there is no real competitor to Facebook and having a social profile for friends and family. Despite Ello, MySpace and diaspora* trying in vain, there has been no real competitor able to break Facebook’s grip on the social networking sector. (Twitter offers a different alternative, so it’s perhaps a tad unfair to try to say that it offers a real alternative.)
In the same way that Google collects data on its users, Facebook collects data for a number of reasons. These vary from collecting data for targeted ads, to recommended pages and friends and device data to allow for targeted information regarding the installation of apps and services offered by Facebook. Also, another method of collection Facebook is guilty of is collecting posts that haven’t even been posted. Status updates that eventually don’t get posted still get sent to Facebook for their collection.
Whereas Google shows you and allows you to opt of many of their collections, Facebook does not offer such a level of transparency. After a little digging, you can find their Data Policy which is a list of things it collects on you — but with no option to opt out of these. One of the points in the policy also covers data by websites and apps that use Facebook’s services, essentially anything that uses the Facebook Like button or Facebook comments.
This, I can see why a lot privacy evangelists jump on Facebook for not letting the user decide for themselves what they give and what they don’t but, again, this comes at the cost of using the platform for free. And most people don’t mind, or even care.
Between Facebook and Google they are constantly attacked from all sides of the media, individuals and companies. Being one of the largest companies in the world presents the world with a much bigger target and, as such, more attention from those looking to poke holes in their business and plans. Apple are constantly mocked as they are the world’s biggest business in terms of technology, the same with Nintendo for games and so on. Jealousy may play a part in the abuse, but I just think it’s a general part of humanity that the bigger the target, the larger the need to want to inflect criticism on them.
After weighing up the pros and cons of using sites like Facebook and Google, one would weigh the decisions of using the sites and continue to use them, or deactivate and delete their accounts to spare their data being collected. All well and good, but a lot of other sites do the same thing so you’re essentially trading one place for data collection to another. Granted, they might not be as extensive as Google or Facebook, but they’re still there. Amazon, eBay and many other sites using tracking to personalise mailshots and adverts, amongst others.
One thing that people should be very mindful is of groups and individuals scaremongering people into believing that using either of these sites is anything other than bad. Sure, there are issues of privacy, but that is the choice people make by using these sites. Granted, not everyone is explicitly aware of the Privacy Policies of these sites, but both sites have the information if you should choose to look for it.
Like the Westborough Baptist Church and other hate groups, they prey on the fear that many people don’t even know is there. They instil hatred and spout only half-truths about Facebook’s and Google’s actions, and often with no option of their own to help back up their own accusations. The ones that do… well, they haven’t got much to offer in the way of a replacement, despite a small fortune invested in them. Instead of talking about the issue, and comparing the use of Google to a nefarious act against children, it would be much better and wiser to shut up and show the world a working alternative. Actions are louder than words.
What people need to decide for themselves is what they are willing to give up to continue using these sites for no cost at all financially. If targeted ads and recommended friends is the price for using a site to connect with friends and have access to tools I use daily, then so be it.
Just make sure it’s your own decision.
