Comment by wolco
7 years ago
Is that really a question? Google creates global profiles of everyone for tracking and advertising.
Having a random developer create a shadow profile isn't the same.
The scale is vastly different and can be used to track you from site to site.
I know Google creates global profiles for tracking - and my question (which is the same as my original question) is why do you care? If that data is only used internally by google to serve you better ads why are you concerned with them having your data?
In short, because they’re doing so without my permission, and I resent that.
Even if a user trusts Google, because the data is digital and therefore permanent, there's no guarantee it will remain internal forever, whether that's because of a hack, a rogue employee, police/government pressure, or a change of ownership.
It seems to me that, with the exception of a rogue employee, all of those examples are at a greater risk of occurring with a small, independent provider. Google almost certainly has more security resources, more legal resources and political clout, and isn’t likely to be acquired any time soon.
I can’t say I love having Google track me, but I don’t feel any better about someone else doing it either.
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