When setting up a new computer or new accounts with either company they ask for a lot of information, and then in their user agreements, they take a lot of liberty with what they can do. Both insist upon your name, birthday, cell phone “in case you lose your password”, your zip code. Seems like a lot of information, enough for ID theft actually.
Both also want to sync everything on / to the internet. With this they now can literally watch everything you do, read your email, scan your documents, files, pictures and databases because your data is stored on their servers (SkyDrive and or Google Drive).
When you are setting up Windows 8 SkyDrive cloud storage setups up and “your camera roll and PC Settings will automatically be backed up to the cloud, and new documents you create will be saved to SkyDrive by default. That way you can get to them from any device, even if something happens to your PC.”
Google drive is just as invasive here is a snippet directly from Google’s terms of service: “Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.
When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones.”
They also state: “As our Terms of Service make clear, “what belongs to you stays yours.” You own your files and control their sharing, plain and simple. Our Terms of Service enable us to give you the services you want — so if you decide to share a document with someone, or open it on a different device, you can.”
So they give themselves permission to search through all your data, and watch your surfing habits (if you use Google Search with your account, for marketing / advertising purposes.
So what does that mean to you? A lot, if you write articles or heck even save articles and pieces of documents about terrorism or explosions or the Bill of Rights, they know it, and if they know it they will turn it over to whichever government asks.
I know you think you are innocent; however since 9/11/01 the laws have changed making your guilty until proven innocent. Add the rumor mill of false information spread across Facebook and you could easily have your life ruined.
Not going to happen to you? Really? Remember that night when you had not been satisfied sexually for many days? You surfed for “boobs” on Bing or Google images, you came to a site named “teen girls with big bosoms” and clicked. BAM, now they have you for “searching for” and “Viewing” Child porn, you can be busted as a pedophile, and all you wanted was… well this is a site for techy and all ages so we won’t go there.
Won’t happen because you don’t look at naked pictures? What are your political leanings? Made posts about your politically incorrect views? Did your child do research on the assassinations of American Presidents? Are you taking a CERT class on NBC attacks? Perhaps you wanted to learn about the suspected rapist in your area. All these searches, papers, videos et al build a profile about you.
Wait until administration (Local, State or Federal) comes in that believes differently than you. After they kick in the doors and haul you out, surprise, the media is out there with someone telling other than your version of what is going on. By the way, you don’t even know your version because you have been asked a thousand questions across dozens of subjects and you still don’t know why your door is off the hinges, your wife and daughter in their nighties are face down on the carpet with rifles at their heads.
You might be thinking, “see Geek, you are paranoid and a conspiracy theorist”. As Grumpy cat would say “Nope”, I am a thinker, I follow the dots, the money et al.
Google was introduced under the theory “Do No Harm”, yet the last decade shows they gladly gave your information to your government and blocked content (about freedom and individual rights) for governments (China for example).
Microsoft has never claimed to do no harm or to protect your privacy. The latest X-Box promises to take random pictures of you, your family, your home, even when you are not using it. It promises to store them on their servers and use those images at their will. Don’t believe me? Read the usage rights on it. Yup, they just might create their own child porn then have you busted for it.
Don’t say I did not warn you.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/16/4526770/will-the-nsa-use-the-xbox-one-to-spy-on-your-family
http://kotaku.com/5958307/this-kinect-patent-is-terrifying-wants-to-charge-you-for-license-violation
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-responds-to-skydrive-privacy-concerns
http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/25/2973849/google-drive-terms-privacy-data-skydrive-dropbox-icloud
When setting up your new Windows 8.1 PC or using the Google Drive interfaces and “features” I suggest you choose “turn off these…SkyDrive Settings (Not Recommended)”, I recommend that you do turn them off, the same goes with Google Drive.
Until we meet again, have a virus free week.