I AM AFRAID of Google! !!

Many times when I share my enthousiasm about Google services people react surprisingly reluctantly - in a way:

I am afraid of that giant company - they know so much about you....

you never know when they use it against you..

or

Their social network (Google Plus) - nobody from my friends is there,

 - when they come with something innovative I maybe join...

So basically a fear of unknown and not knowing exactly what we fear of... A common reaction when we face a novelty. However, nowadays technologies  progress so fast forward, penetrating broad population at lightning speed - that we got to adopt a position to a number of social issues .

Here I'd like to mention a quote from +TEDGlobal Talk by +Catarina Mota on her encouragment to play with smart materials - now being developed and tested. Why should we care ... about technologies that we are not at the moment in contact with? Cos 

"..We cannot shape what we do not understand.

 And what we do not understand and use, ends up shaping us."

As our lives are getting more and more interconnected and public online, our awareness of our online presence / image should become at least as important. ...effectively, it is each of us, feeding search machines, social network sites with intricate details from our private lives - VOLUNTARILY!

Are we really aware of the potence of our impulsive short messages pushed out to the world? Are we ready to take responsibility - for our online SHOUTING?

Take for example the poor rich girl #LadyProfeco aka Andrea Benitez ... After a night out that ended up with a restaurant closing in a very chic Mexican neighborhood, because she didn't get the table she wanted, Andrea Benítez's temper tantrum is finally catching up with her. "Lady Profeco," the name that the media gave her because her dad, Humberto Benítez Treviño is the head of the Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor (Attorney General's Office for Consumer Protection), has already cost the job of four officials, according to the Secretaría de la Función Pública or SFP (Civil Secretariat). (Latin Times - online version) .. for following up the story read here.

It's no more just an alternative cyberworld! Definitely, our lives are digitalised and made instantly public - which means accessible for anyone with necessary skills to look up these details on ourselves  As +Juan Enriquez points: our online lives receive unheard coverage. With so much detail on deeply personal issues now easily accessible for general public - it is us doing most of the filling in (on social networks). Also, are we ready to stand up for the image we co-created?

Because it remains as permanent as an "electronic tattoo".

Do we grow up to the possibilities of ever- developing and improving tech or just happen to put up with it? Do we get cought up in the net? Worth of  a thought!  (Sherlock Holmes series by BBC)

  

On the other side, let's be genuine - I dare to say that any major company with "free" online  services cash in some way on users data / behaviour online - at least selling their knowledge further to web seller.  Honestly, do we comprehend their true funding and purpose?

Just a reminder:  How Apple develop their Siri assistent with help of retaining user data for over two years.  Sure,  Google is not an innocent either - and got to pay a penalty for collecting wifi data.

However,  I got to admit that voluntarily  letting go public  so much personal data (shopping habits,  social interactions,  physical activities, localisation . ..) poses risks we may have not yet recognised.

Cos if infrastructure is set up,  there is always a probability of misuse.  (My thought :)

Nowadays, it is our beloved governments that request details on their citizens from private companies. Some of them publish official report of data requests - here is the Transparency Report from Google.

Well, let's not be naive - with surveillance cameras at most public places "guiding us safely" - we are no more anonymous even out there at public places - among the masses...
Just cast a look for example at London with its most sofisticated  surveillance network - teamed up with facial recognition software, which was the main tool for police to identify and track down suspects of street riots back in 2011.

Very vivid example of handling  current technologies and the need for adjusting our perception -  was illustrated in the movie "Columbiana". Even though, the background cause was officially  drug  trafficing scene, just  substitute the original motive with a label of "terrorist"... Read more on Boston Marathon 2013  - the Police search and the public debate on 'surveillace limits'.

As we cannot stop all the technology approach us physically, here comes curiousity and constant asking "silly questions" handy - while reevaluating our exposure ... and taking advantage of this vast collection of data for our "the greater good".

Personally I believe in interaction and constant need for learning and with open mind questioning anything...

PS: Let me share a great viewpoint by +Jennifer Sertl  in her blog post - a very practical thought:

"This leaf shows a water droplet and you can see the concentric circles of reverberating impact. Consider that each text, tweet, and post your write or comment on has the same physical resonance. It travels and impacts the system at large. There is a direct link between your personal growth and social impact -- regardless of how the channels evolve. Impact is not an option, ensure that yours is positive."

Just to remind you:

Enjoy your day :)