Creepy crawly
Keeping it openGoogle's mantra may be "don't be evil," but it has apparently added "don't be creepy," too.
Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, has said the firm is "trying not to cross what we call the creepy line" when it comes to hoarding people's data.
Privacy advocates have often been outraged by Google's reach when it comes to data collection, especially over controversial services like "Street View", giving 360-degree views of the streets of major cities throughout the US and the world. Many have also claimed that the high-quality photo close-ups could help criminals.
Schmidt said the concerns were the reason Google would only publish satellite data that was at least a month old, as real-time footage would be a little too Big Brother-esque for most people's taste.
Data collection
The firm seems to be making a lot of noise about putting users back in control of their own privacy, releasing Google Dashboard earlier this week to let web surfers see what data the Internet giant has collected about them.
Unfortunately for Google, however, the initiative is being criticised by some as being simply a PR stunt and by others of putting users at risk of privacy breaches, as some may forget to log out, leaving their details open to anyone else using the computer.
Still, Schmidt says he is keen to avoid making the same "mistakes" Microsoft did, which resulted in the firm being prosecuted by the US department of justice.
But Schmidt, who also happens to be a technology adviser to the Obama administration, said he also had to be careful to not get too close to the incumbent government, implying that that too would be a bit creepy.
"You don't want to be too close to any particular administration, and they don't want to be too close particularly to you," Schmidt said.
We agree. That would definitely be creepy.
