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December 21, 2007
More on Google/Doubleclick
internetnews.com -- With Google/DoubleClick Approved, is Privacy Dead?:
"So, short of legislation or a legal challenge to the FTC approval of the merger, there's likely only one way to avoid Google knowing even more about you: by turning off cookies on your browser and searching the Web through a proxy to hide your IP address. But what's not to like about giving information to a company whose slogan is 'Don't be evil?'"
That's just the punchline. The rest of the column is a good-if-broad overview of the privacy issues raised by yesterday's FTC approval of the Google's Doubleclick acquisition. Nutshell: Both companies were already tracking a lot, combined they're going to track even more, and when the FTC says none of the privacy issues raised by this particular acquisition are unique to the industry, one has to assume Google and the rest of the advertising industry is going to get its fondest wish: deference to "self regulation," regardless of what that means to our collective privacy.
Posted by mhall at 6:44 PM | Add Comment
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