![\"Google](\"\/wp-content\/images\/2011\/07\/attorneysgeneralgoogle_1A.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy now everyone\u00a0has seen the\u00a0“this stuff matters”\u00a0box on Google's search page.\u00a0 \u00a0The “This stuff matters” message is pretty interesting – it sounds like Google understands our concerns and is taking them seriously.\u00a0 On that basis I expect many people – fearing another 80 page privacy policy – will just move on to get their search result.<\/p>\n
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But some will actually take the time to follow the link.\u00a0 And what they'll see actually is<\/em> important.<\/p>\n First, they'll find out that beginning this Thursday Google will amalgamate all the information it has about their activities and postings on all\u00a0of Google's sites and services into a single account profile.\u00a0 This in spite of the fact that most people put content on those sites\u00a0and entered\u00a0queries into\u00a0Google search pages\u00a0thinking\u00a0the information\u00a0was limited to\u00a0the specific context in which they were participating.<\/p>\n Second, they'll find out\u00a0that as customers they have no choice about the matter.\u00a0 Even though in many cases they have helped create the knowledge and content that makes Google successful, their option if they dislike the policy is to completely stop using Google sites by Wednesday February 29th 2012.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course\u00a0all of this is perfectly in keeping with the creepy “Real Names” initiative\u00a0forced upon\u00a0us a few months ago.\u00a0 At that time, we were told “Real Names” only applied to “certain Google sites”\u00a0– like Google+.\u00a0\u00a0What a surprise that so little time later,\u00a0ALL\u00a0account and profile information from ALL\u00a0Google properties is being amalgamated under a single privacy and identity policy!\u00a0\u00a0As we predicted, Real Names\u00a0is slithering into the whole fabric of\u00a0the company's offerings, whether specific sites benefit from what will often be “over-identification” or not.<\/p>\n Happily, one group of people who actually bothered to\u00a0look into the change\u00a0were the Attorneys General of the United States.\u00a0 Today they published a cogent and devastating letter<\/a> that does an\u00a0admirable job of enumerating the many\u00a0deeply disturbing implications of Google's latest identity initiative.\u00a0 It begins,<\/p>\n “Google\u2019s new privacy policy is troubling for a number of reasons. On a fundamental level, the policy appears to invade consumer privacy by automatically sharing personal information consumers input into one Google product with all Google products. Consumers have diverse interests and concerns, and may want the information in their Web History to be kept separate from the information they exchange via Gmail. Likewise, consumers may be comfortable with Google knowing their Search queries but not with it knowing their whereabouts, yet the new privacy policy appears to give them no choice in the matter, further invading their privacy. It rings hollow to call their ability to exit the Google products ecosystem a \u201cchoice\u201d in an Internet economy where the clear majority of all Internet users use \u2013 and frequently rely on \u2013 at least one Google product on a regular basis.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The\u00a0Attorneys General\u00a0then go on to discuss the\u00a0contagion between Google's\u00a0consumer offerings and their\u00a0enterprise ones…\u00a0\u00a0What does\u00a0this kind of\u00a0identity grab mean for companies and governments who have put corporate and state information\u00a0under Google's stewardship?\u00a0 Can\u00a0the\u00a0companies who steward the resources\u00a0of the World\u00a0Wide Web change their privacy and other policies in radical and\u00a0even maniacal ways without regard to the policies in effect when those resources were created?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can they\u00a0simply tell those who have bought into previous promises to\u00a0either accept their brave new world or “take a walk”?\u00a0 As the attorneys put it,<\/p>\n “This invasion of privacy will be costly for many users to escape. For users who rely on Google products for their business \u2013 a use that Google has actively promoted1 \u2013 avoiding this information sharing may mean moving their entire business over to different platforms, reprinting any business cards or letterhead that contained Gmail addresses, re-training employees on web-based sharing and calendar services, and more. The problem is compounded for the many federal, state, and local government agencies that have transitioned to Google Apps for Government at the encouragement of your company, and that now will need to spend taxpayer dollars determining how this change affects the security of their information and whether they need to switch to different platforms.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I urge everyone to read the letter in full<\/a>\u00a0and think deeply about the consequences.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Not long ago, John Fontana<\/a> suggested we get together to discuss\u00a0the\u00a0degree to which\u00a0the Laws of Identity <\/a>remain relevant seven years after they were published.\u00a0\u00a0I look forward to that conversation.\u00a0\u00a0Google's actions show there are still companies who could benefit from reading them.\u00a0\u00a0After all,\u00a0it is clearly breaking three Laws of Identity:<\/p>\n And the Attorneys General are onto it…<\/p>\n\n
![\"Attorneys](\"\/wp-content\/images\/2011\/07\/attorneysgeneralgoogle_2.jpg\")
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