Despite a great deal of consternation by users of their myriad services about the huge amounts of data gathered on users by Google, their founder and CEO says that they are trying hard not to be “creepy.”

Speaking on the general subject of satellite imagery, Google’s Eric Schmidt said that his company tries hard stay away from publishing mapping data that might make one shudder. One example is real-time satellite imagery, according to a CNET story. Schmidt said that Google would only publish imagery that was at least a month old, saying that “we’re trying not to cross what we call the creepy line” with data collected, including data from satellite cameras.

Privacy advocates will be happy to hear that Google wants to avoid that creepy factor, but they would probably be happier if the breadth and depth of data collected and tracked by Google were less pervasive. It is not difficult to see Google as a significant player in the Big Brother worries of those that worry about the amount of data being collected by both governments and private companies.  The Web is the largest body of information ever assembled under one roof, and Google has tendrils in every nook and cranny.

Google tries hard to dispel the Big Brother-ish image. They recently introduced a product called Google Dashboard, which is a tool that allows a person with a Google Account to compile all the personal information associated with their account. The tool pulls together personal information from Google’s applications and services, such as Gmail or Blogger, and indicates whether the information is public or not. Privacy advocates have not been overly impressed with the tool, indicating that the information tabulated by Google is still very hard for an individual to control.

Speaking of Big Brother, Schmidt also talked about government involvement. He said he wanted to avoid the mistakes that got Microsoft in hot water with the Justice Department, while at the same time continuing his involvement with the Obama Administration, for which he is a technical advisor. Schmidt said “You don’t want to be too close to any particular administration, and they don’t want to be too close particularly to you.” If all of this conjures up a picture of Big Brother sitting on a fence, you are probably not alone.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 11:53 am under Google, Politics, Security.

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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