http://www.sindustries.org/google/
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I wish the US government sites would be so quick to verify your country of origin, I get a runaround of reverse DNS requests and all sorts of other hassles to prove I'm in the US.
I honestly don't care that google redirects to specific server for your country, how does that hurt anyone?
Has the guy every considered that Google might just be trying to be helpful by perhaps collaborating with the Web Mapping Project? Jeez.
Not to mention what if their servers are being overloaded, ever heard of load-balancing? This guy is idiot. Of all the things on the web to get upset about Google redirecting you to a local server is probably at the bottom of the list.
It isn't about redirection. If they wanted to load balance, they do not need to store which country an ip address originates from and serve them on another server. They can check the load on their server and based on that redirect to a mirror server. There is no need for harvesting IP addresses and storing databases.
i have to agree with the last two posts. besides, i use google at school to get past their smartfilter.
i go through hell tryin' to get to some of my favorite security sites without it. maybe it is ok for everyone.
i haven't been hurt by it.
Well if their Canadian server is actually in Canada, it may just give you faster access, which would help them with load balancing and help you get your information faster.Quote:
Originally posted by oblio
It isn't about redirection. If they wanted to load balance, they do not need to store which country an ip address originates from and serve them on another server. They can check the load on their server and based on that redirect to a mirror server. There is no need for harvesting IP addresses and storing databases.
Saying that they're harvesting addresses and storing them in a database is just conjecture.
But your missing the point. It is about redirecting. Saving an IP address in a database is not invading privacy if it's used to find the closest mirror to you. I wish more sites did that. It would help the Internet by keeping traffic as local as possible.
Now if they are attaching purchased information to the Ip address to create a profile then that is wrong, but then again for that where is the evidence.
saving an ip address in a database with data about the person who uses the IP address is invading privacy. Especially when the company doing this is providing a service which can potentially store information which has an expectation of privacy. Google makes no mention on their site of doing such things. They offer no warning or anything, their privacy policy makes no mention of this database mapping ips to countries but they do admit that they store queries with ip addresses. They say in the privacy policy that they do not collect personal information from your browser, but it says nothing about this ip database.
Or could it be that google uses a tracert. Gee you know the tracert tool. A trained monkey could use it. It says oh wow this person is in France mabey I should display the menu in french or hey this person is in Japan how bout some kanji and hirigana to brighten their day?
Not if all they are storing is the approximate geographical location. It's not really invading your privacy unless it is personally identifying or arbitrary unrelated information which you wish to keep secret. If you feel that your IP address gives out too much information about you on it's own, you probably should be building your bomb shelter and stocking up on munitions.Quote:
Originally posted by oblio
saving an ip address in a database with data about the person who uses the IP address is invading privacy
They admit the store queries with IP addresses. They admit it. They show it. You use the service. So? If you don't like it, don't use it. They are providing a free service which helps you, and if they choose to take statistics (and mention it), who is the user to complain that he didn't read the privacy statement?Quote:
. They offer no warning or anything, their privacy policy makes no mention of this database mapping ips to countries but they do admit that they store queries with ip addresses. They say in the privacy policy that they do not collect personal information from your browser, but it says nothing about this ip database.
As for the IP->Location thing again... That's one of those things that I don't think really needs to be put in a privacy statement. It's fairly hard NOT to do, when logging certain hostnames, for instance. Blah.blah.blah.place.com.hk ... Wow! It's in Hong Kong!
Dude you sound like chicken little crying "the sky is falling the sky is falling"Quote:
Originally posted by oblio
saving an ip address in a database with data about the person who uses the IP address is invading privacy. Especially when the company doing this is providing a service which can potentially store information which has an expectation of privacy. Google makes no mention on their site of doing such things. They offer no warning or anything, their privacy policy makes no mention of this database mapping ips to countries but they do admit that they store queries with ip addresses. They say in the privacy policy that they do not collect personal information from your browser, but it says nothing about this ip database.
You admitted you visited google.ca once. Your IP was used to return the info you requested and you cry "PRIVACY INVASION" sheesh. I know what your response will be" They didn't tell me they were going to store my IP" So what? Its more of a customer service issue than privacy invasion. Start crying out against facial recognision software or something else thats a real threat to privacy.
think about it redirecting you makes it faster for you in the long run well if you dont like it surf with a different proxy.
too bad that all of google's servers are located in california, probably in the same ****ing building.
The 3rd paragraph of googles privacy states
"What Information Do We Collect?
Google does not collect any unique information about you (such as your name, email address, etc.) except when you specifically and knowingly provide such information. Google notes and saves information such as time of day, browser type, browser language, and IP address with each query. That information is used to verify our records and to provide more relevant services to users. For example, Google may use your IP address or browser language to determine which language to use when showing search results or advertisements."
Above taken from googles privacy policy.
Also I did some searching at archive.org and Google has had the IP clause in there for some time. Thats the facts!
I've noticed that if I go to http://google.com/ - that's the site I stay at.
But if I go to http://www.google.com/ - that's when it redirects me to http://www.google.ca/
Hmm...
Their privacy policy speaks of data collection in regards to information provided by the browser and the local machine. They make it clear that any information given in forms is specifically catalogued, they also make no reference to forms found in the google cache. The concern is the fact that they do have a database of ip addresses with mapped out information to each individual ip address. This can very easily contain individually identifiable information. Google's privacy is not clear and generally sucks.
When they're killing/butchering/raping 50 million spottedQuote:
Originally posted by oblio
Google's privacy is not clear and generally sucks.
owls every day and you are worried about your privacy?
tsk.
:cool:
who cares if your being redirected. making a database of ip addres is much like a business using caller ID on their phone,
(and yes i kjnow you can block caller id...but you cant ALWAYS block it.
do you appreciate the people that harvest your name, address and phone number from the phonebook and then use it to monitor your shopping habits so that they can better attempt to harass you into purchasing their product? to what limit should we allow corporations to gather information on us and to what limit should we allow the type of information corporations are allowed to gather on us. Make no mistake, Google is a giant corporation, and there is one goal of giant corporations: to make money. It is the shareholders that call the shots not the good intentions of the staff. Venture capital owns google and without it, they will be shut down in a heart beat