Google"s continuously raked over the coals regarding the massive amounts of PII (personally identifiable information) it collects, what it does with it, how long it retains that data and what the company might do with it if its merger with DoubleClick goes ahead. That"s all been ratcheted up to fever pitch over the past few weeks, with two new privacy headlines: complaints being voiced about Google"s new Street View service"s photographs getting too close for comfort and Privacy International"s having flunked Google on its privacy policies and procedures in a report published June 9.
The fury boils down to one question: whether or not it"s OK for Google to own us. Make no mistake, Google owns you. The ways in which it owns you are laid out in a complaint filed by EPIC (Electronic Privacy Information Center) and other privacy groups with the Federal Trade Commission over Google"s proposed merger with targeted advertising company DoubleClick.