Your own comment explains why: Google has built an empire upon the ability to efficiently compile information about people.
I've worked for a small ISP. They are not nearly as competent in that regard. Most of the time, they're just hoping they can finish the day with fewer tech support tickets than they started the day with.
I trust Comcast / SBC / others less -- especially since they voluntarily opted to cooperate with the RIAA/MPAA against their users' interests (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ISP-Six-Strikes-Plan-Arri...) ... but I trust Google least of all, speaking just from a privacy standpoint.
I realize that it's a little irrational, especially since, as you pointed out, the information is anonymous. (We think.) However, it's not so much that I'm concerned with what Google is doing with that information now; I'm concerned with what they might do with it later. Once the data has been collected, it's impossible to ever know for certain that it's been removed. Data collected about customers will survive middle management and CEOs and entire company boards. It may be sold at any time to anyone for any reason -- or given away freely. It may be used for purposes which I am not imaginative enough to conjure up.
That probably sounds a little paranoid, but then again, when I was dialing in to eWorld in 1995, I could not have imagined that 17 years later the cable company would be my ISP and they'd be snitching on me if I downloaded unauthorized content. 17 years is not beyond the life time of current storage methods; who knows what will come next?
Finally, Google can't survive forever on advertising. I frankly expected the online advertising market to be having greater problems by now than it is. Still, AdBlock Plus is popular and I've seen a few articles recently that are tentatively suggesting that buying advertising on Facebook probably isn't worth it. Google's building some actual consumer hardware now, which is super neat, but their core competency is in data mining. I think it would be foolish to believe that if the online advertising market started to really struggle, Google would just drop the thing that they're best at and move on to something else.
So I don't think it's such a bad idea to treat Google with a little mistrust.
I've worked for a small ISP. They are not nearly as competent in that regard. Most of the time, they're just hoping they can finish the day with fewer tech support tickets than they started the day with.
I trust Comcast / SBC / others less -- especially since they voluntarily opted to cooperate with the RIAA/MPAA against their users' interests (http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/ISP-Six-Strikes-Plan-Arri...) ... but I trust Google least of all, speaking just from a privacy standpoint.
I realize that it's a little irrational, especially since, as you pointed out, the information is anonymous. (We think.) However, it's not so much that I'm concerned with what Google is doing with that information now; I'm concerned with what they might do with it later. Once the data has been collected, it's impossible to ever know for certain that it's been removed. Data collected about customers will survive middle management and CEOs and entire company boards. It may be sold at any time to anyone for any reason -- or given away freely. It may be used for purposes which I am not imaginative enough to conjure up.
That probably sounds a little paranoid, but then again, when I was dialing in to eWorld in 1995, I could not have imagined that 17 years later the cable company would be my ISP and they'd be snitching on me if I downloaded unauthorized content. 17 years is not beyond the life time of current storage methods; who knows what will come next?
Finally, Google can't survive forever on advertising. I frankly expected the online advertising market to be having greater problems by now than it is. Still, AdBlock Plus is popular and I've seen a few articles recently that are tentatively suggesting that buying advertising on Facebook probably isn't worth it. Google's building some actual consumer hardware now, which is super neat, but their core competency is in data mining. I think it would be foolish to believe that if the online advertising market started to really struggle, Google would just drop the thing that they're best at and move on to something else.
So I don't think it's such a bad idea to treat Google with a little mistrust.
(But their fiber project is really damn cool.)