I was reading an article over at PPC.bz about how Google links your social contacts to its index to improve your search results. This is the first I had heard of the service, which is called Google Social Circle. Click this link to see what social information Google has about you. The service has been around since October of 2009, but this is the first I had heard of it. You’d think they would announce something like this, especially amidst all of the Facebook privacy news. You’ll need a Google account and be logged in for the link to work properly.
Barman from PPC.bz basically equates the whole thing to information rape, because they’re taking fondling your privacy. I don’t agree with that so much, because I feel more like they’re harvesting public information, and everything I put on the web I assume will be public anyways. That being said, I still wish they told me.
My view is more in line with Bobbi Newman, who says: “Google’s Social Circle & Social Search may not violate any privacy laws but it gives me the creeps.” This is a lot like finding out that you have a stalker – only this one isn’t human, which might be even a little more creepy. If this technology truly does increase relevancy, I suppose I support it, but I still feel like they were shady about it’s implementation.
In reality this is a lot like XFN search engines, which will probably be the next evolution in social networks. I’m actually amazed that people aren’t building more of them to compete with Facebook. It will be interesting how the privacy issues and technology develop with this.
What do you think about it’s privacy implications?
