Hello and welcome back to the Most Amazing Channel on the internet.
I am your host, Rebecca Felgate and today I am back talking about Google !..... Google,
as we know, pretty much controls the internet today, but what kind of dark shady stuff are
they harbouring?
Well find out as we talk about the Top 10 Dark Secrets that Google Doesn't Want You
To Know......
10 - Google Knows You – Like….Really Knows You.
You probably don’t think too much about how Google is one of the most profitable businesses
in the world….
It just sort of is and you go with it, right?
Why wouldn’t it be?
But…if it is free to use, then how does it make money?
Well, by selling information about you.
Google, at this point, probably knows you better than your best friend knows you.
From maps, It knows your address and stores information on where you go.
From your search terms, it knows what you are looking for, and from youtube it knows
what you like watching.
Google has your data, you are valuable to google, who will sell your information to
companies who want to advertise to you.
9 - Google Street View Assists Burglaries
Statistics suggest that 75 percent of would be robbers use Google Street View to case
a house before they actually turn up.
In 2011, a Chicago man was found to have used street view to assist him in a jewelry heist
worth 100 thousand dollars.
Similarly in 2010, Gordon Rayner of Great Britain blamed google when he was robbed.
He told national news papers Google Street view failed to sensor the content of his garage.
8 - It Steals Other Companies Data
In 2012, Google employees hacked a rival company in Kenya.
Mocality was Kenya’s largest online and mobile business directory, and Google was
caught accessing its customer database with the intention of selling a competing product
to its customers.
This is not legal business practice, and who knows how often this kind of thing happens…
the problem this time was that Google got caught.
On top of that, Google was caught lying to potential customers about Mocality’s rates.
Mocality went bust just a year later in 2013.
7 - Google Hacked Apple In 2012, Google was caught hacking Apple’s
safari browser and monitored apple users browsing behavior.
The hack was spotted by the Wall Street Journal who published an expose in 2012.
4 years later, google forced to pay apple 5.5 million dollars in a settlement to end
the legal fallout from the hack.
6 - Google is Helping the Government Spy On You
In the UK, a Daily Mail Article alleged that the Government was using Google Earth when
investigating suspected tax dodgers.
Google Earth allows Revenue agencies to see things like home improvements and cars.
It isn’t just the British Government, either…there have been cases of tax fraud exposed by other
European, and indeed, United States Governments.
5 - Google Self Driving Cars Might Not Be As Safe As You Think
Google is currently testing self driving cars, although there have been a few accidents that
have been hushed up.
In September 2016, a driverless car was involved in a bad crash in California.
The company saw 14 accidents in 6 years, although Google says in most of the cases, their cars
were rear ended.
4 - Google Decides If You Have The Right To Be Forgotten
2018 saw a landmark case between a business man and Google about his right to be forgotten.
As I am sure you are aware, Google seemingly knows all, and a quick search of my name can
tell you where I was born and what I studied at school… but what if there are things
I don’t want you to know?
Well, by and large this is tough luck!
The search engine will seldom remove information about you, unless it considers it to be defamatory,
in which case it is legally obliged.
The businessman in London wants the search engine to take down links to information about
an old conviction, but Google’s main defense is that it is in the public interest for the
information to stay.
The case is still being fought but will set a precedent for future rulings on personal
privacy.
Oh, and if you live in America, you aren’t protected by the right to be forgotten protection
in the first place…soo… best of luck to you.
3 - It Can Destroy Your Business A bad review for a restaurant can totally
destroy the business, but it isn’t just customer reviews on google that are destroying
livelihoods.
If Google wanted to, it could totally destroy e-commerce businesses by de-ranking their
website.
Google chooses what it wants to show you based off your search data.
Most companies use Search Engine Optimization, however nobody truly knows how and why Google
ranks sites the way it does.
If you try and predict and trick the google bots, it can derank your site – so not show
it in web searches – which would mean your business would be as good as buried.
Is it okay Google has this power?!
2 - Google Street View Cars Hack Into Your Wifi and Steal Your Data
In 2012 it was revealed that Google Streetview cars were retrieving and storing data from
private wifi networks.
The web giants said that it was a mistake, however evidence emerged that suggested an
engineer in the company planned it all along and other members of the company knew about
it.
1 - Google has a secret side company called Google X
Google X is a secret Research and Development arm and the whole thing is shrouded in total
mystery.
Workers have to sign a non disclosure, so really, we have no idea what on earth is going
on in the highly secretive building half a mile off Google’s main campus.