Is Google Now (Officially) Evil?

What’s the Latest Development?

Several serious violations of user privacy over the last couple months have many asking if Google have become too big to have a conscience. It was recently discovered that many of its apps have been funneling user data into the hands of developers; Google itself has circumvented privacy gaps on Web browsers to pursue consumer data; last week, dozens of state attorneys general objected to the company’s latest merger of user data from across all Google products; integration of Google Plus into its search engine seems to skew results in favor of Google products.

What’s the Big Idea?

In 2000, Google employed dozens of workers. Today, it has 30,00 employees and an annual revenue of $38 billion. While the company once seemed enthusiastic about protecting user data, today it is criticized for aggressively changing those practices to suit its business objectives. Google at once apologizes to its critics and defends its actions as necessary to deliver better products and search results. Industry experts say the company has forsaken some of the values it had as young start up to keep from becoming the next Yahoo or AOL. 

Photo credit: shutterstock.com