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November 06, 2009

Google Dashboard: Transparent, maybe. Private? Not so much

Google is putting all your account info on a single page, hoping to calm fears about its intentions. But Cringely isn't convinced

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What does Google know about you and when did they know it? Those are the questions Google claims it's trying to answer with the new Google Dashboard unveiled yesterday.

Simply put, the Dashboard gathers up almost every Google service you've signed up for and displays the most basic settings for each on a single page. Here's how The Official Google Blog describes it:

In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over their own data, we've built the Google Dashboard. Designed to be simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings.

[ Even the Great Googley Moogley stumbles from time to time, as Cringley notes in "Gmail Gfails, Internet survives again" | Stay up to date on Robert X. Cringely's musings and observations with InfoWorld's Notes from the Underground newsletter. ]

Sounds peachy, doesn't it? Finally Google is giving us what we want, control over own data. Saints be praised.

Well, not exactly.

Let's start with the privacy angle. Google puts a "people" icon next to account information that's available to anyone Googling -- er, searching the Net. That's useful info. But if you want to make that stuff private -- or just find out if it's even possible to make it private -- you have to go deep into the settings of each Google app. If you don't already know where to go to change this setting, you may not get there.

For example, I have seven Google Calendars (yes, I am freakish in that way). Google's Dashboard told me one of them was public, but didn't identify which one. A public calendar can reveal scads of sensitive info -- like the names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of people you're meeting with, or when you'll be out of town for an extended period. It's one-stop shopping for identity thieves and/or your local cat burglar.

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StareClips.com 6-Nov-09 10:28am
1 reply
This is worrisome. In the early days of bloggers, you can expect the bloggers to have deep knowledge of the field they talk about. Nowadays, blogging isn't about sharing knowledge... but just complaining about what you don't know. Imagine if cooking shows on TV consisted of someone who doesn't know how to cook holding up a whisk and saying "What is this for, anyway? C'mon... make me a kitchen gadget I can actually USE." A whole hour of that. Where would we be as a society if this mentality ever spread into, gulp, mainstream media. Journalists who know nothing about the field they are reporting in, posting articles about hard-hitting complaints that are reminicent of a Jerry Seinfeld rant, but a whole lot less funny. Deleting your Orkut account (as well as other Google-based account) has been right under your nose for years. Go to your accounts page: https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount ...and click on the EDIT link, next to My products: https://www.google.com/accounts/EditServices Right there is a link for "Remove orkut permanently", among others. Was Google hiding this? No. When on your accounts page, you can just click the HELP link. I searched for: delete orkut account This is the first result: http://www.google.com/support/accounts/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=27442 Here is what it says about removing products: To remove certain products from your account, click the Edit link located next to 'My products' and click the appropriate link from the list. Exactly as I just described. I spent 15 seconds doing what you suggest Google has been hiding from the public for years. And YOU'VE got the popular blog. Don't get me wrong... I'm all for hard-hitting journalism... but I expect that hard-hitting journalism to be exercised by someone who can at least take 15 seconds of time away from typing rants and actually learn about the things he's ranting about. That's just my two cents.
Robert X. Cringely 11-Nov-09 9:28am
the rant above was not about how to delete Orkut, it was about how if Google really wanted to be helpful and transparent to its users they'd put these kinds of functions into the dashboard itself, where they can be easily found, and not burying them two or three levels deep inside each app. so... thanks for helping to prove my point.
ticedoff8 6-Nov-09 12:44pm
Facial recognition in Picasa associated with name tagging. Geo-tagging of pictures along with facial recognition & name tagging. Industrial strength web search that exceeds the capabilities of any branch of the Gov't. Combined with all of the personal info stored in various Google apps. Android OS for phones? If this was the Gov't, we'd be terrified of "Big Brother" having the ability to watch our every move, track our location and moitor our cell phone calls. We are giving a lot of trust to a "For Profit" company that has to promise "To do no evil". When a company has to have a corporate slogan like that, I am reminded of the old "Twilight Zone" episode where the Aliens land and provide all of the wonderful technology advancements and cures to the worlds problems. When asked "Why are you doing this", they point to a book they carry titled "To Serve Mankind" an say it is their duty. One person discovers (too late) that it is a cook-book.
dmarois 7-Nov-09 10:18am
Talk. Talk. Talk. It's already too late.
KEN 9-Nov-09 9:23am
I think I may have mentioned here a few years ago that Google seems to collect too much information about you that they don't delete. And when I tried to remove Google from my computer; it was in everything and in the end I never did get all the bits and pieces left behind. You have to wonder what is Google doing; what will happen to that data one day? Maybe it will become part of your government health record or mental health record. Or perhaps it will be used to identify people who may not agree with government policies. I guess it would be nice to know. Just a passing thought... On second thought just forget this I don't need the trouble.

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