(I posted this yesterday in my blog, http://montereyseo.blogspot.com/ because when the news of Google’s $4.6 billion minimum bid for the 700 mhz bandwidth auction came out, some serious implications dawned on me that merit some immediate discussion. The post was brief, just barely touching the implications, but makes the point clear. I have yet to see this addressed anywhere else...and there are further developments that I will have time to address soon...finally, I do not suppose that Google has sinister motives, indeed they have thus far proven to be guided by positive motives. It’s just that this much power in any single enterprise’s hands is, well, very serious.):
Google at 700 Mhz? ...Think About It!
It was just announced today that Google sent an open letter to the FCC announcing that they intend to bid over $4 billion, minimum, for the upcoming bandwidth auction. Which also announces to everybody else who had planned on bidding had better bring deep pockets. It seems as if Google could win this one without a fight. Of course their plan is to wipe iPhones and all other wireless phone systems off the map with the yet-to-be-announced Google phone, G-phone or whatever it is called when it evolves.
As I was sitting there thinking about this, I happened to go to Google Earth to check something out. Then all of a sudden it hit me......Google phone combined with Google Earth....oh my goodness what kind of a creature would this combination create? I mean, imagine integrating cell phones (read: gps systems) with Google Earth...! Would this not basically be an international tracking system?? You want to see where I am on the planet? Just type my G-phone number in... and there, exact coordinates...! I mean this is fine from an information perspective, but from a security perspective or a privacy perspective, this is a nightmare!
So even if there are security procedures and a stalker cannot find you based on your cell phone number, Google would know.... and not only would Google know where you live, but they would know where you have been! And say there was a crime in your city and the police subpoena all the G-phone gps records and says you are a suspect because you were in the neighborhood...
Or how about Google notifying a politician that they know his
whereabouts during such and such a time....
There are MANY horrifying implications of a marriage between cell phones and Google Earth. I think we are going to need Arnold the Terminator to come back in time and thwart Google’s bid attempt to buy this bandwidth!! More later....
3 Comments
Google at 700 Mhz? ...Think About It!
It was just announced today that Google sent an open letter to the FCC announcing that they intend to bid over $4 billion, minimum, for the upcoming bandwidth auction. Which also announces to everybody else who had planned on bidding had better bring deep pockets. It seems as if Google could win this one without a fight. Of course their plan is to wipe iPhones and all other wireless phone systems off the map with the yet-to-be-announced Google phone, G-phone or whatever it is called when it evolves.
As I was sitting there thinking about this, I happened to go to Google Earth to check something out. Then all of a sudden it hit me......Google phone combined with Google Earth....oh my goodness what kind of a creature would this combination create? I mean, imagine integrating cell phones (read: gps systems) with Google Earth...! Would this not basically be an international tracking system?? You want to see where I am on the planet? Just type my G-phone number in... and there, exact coordinates...! I mean this is fine from an information perspective, but from a security perspective or a privacy perspective, this is a nightmare!
So even if there are security procedures and a stalker cannot find you based on your cell phone number, Google would know.... and not only would Google know where you live, but they would know where you have been! And say there was a crime in your city and the police subpoena all the G-phone gps records and says you are a suspect because you were in the neighborhood...
Or how about Google notifying a politician that they know his
whereabouts during such and such a time....
There are MANY horrifying implications of a marriage between cell phones and Google Earth. I think we are going to need Arnold the Terminator to come back in time and thwart Google’s bid attempt to buy this bandwidth!! More later....
3 Comments
Comments
Honestly... Is there any other company out there that you would be comfortable with winning the bid other than Google? Who would vote for if you had the power to choose who gets the deal? Google’s got my vote.
Only found this post right now - 100% with you on this. If there’s one thing I hate it’s clueless media hacks in their 20s pretending to education by voicing sound bytes like "could we be heading towards 1984?" For goodness’s sake, 1984 was 23 years ago - we’re way past it and not just chronologically: If you need proof, simply study what Google is all about. Should give people the creeps rather than come up with yet another dumb "So what? I’ve got nothing to hide?" knee jerk reaction...
It is too late when they have implemented it. There are already nearly 700 000 security cameras in London for example. Something predicted a while ago...