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Comment by benbojangles | Hacker News Reader

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benbojangles

If i'm not mistaken, Google has been dipping it's toes in home automation for some time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_PowerMeter

http://mobilesyrup.com/2013/12/17/google-dipping-its-toe-int...

To acquire home statistics. Can you imagine the personal data gathering? And the $ value attached to that data?

All sweetened with sugar for you to buy the product, connect, and give your data for free.

Oh how I would love to be a fly on the wall and look at who exactly is pulling these strings.

Government? - Which ones Private equity? - Which sticky hands Other Countries? - Which ones & what would the data be worth to them?

This is why I disapprove of services such as: Google glass, Home automation data gathering, Car & transport data gathering.

I'm not an 'all-or-nothing' kind of guy, but sheesh....

And that 23andMe DNA gathering product: https://www.23andme.com/ It's like a totalitarian wet dream.

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Yeah, if you're on the cynical side of the whole "Google is co-opted by the government to help track and control the populace" idea, which you have no reason not to be after the NSA leaks, it is absolutely terrifying.

Yeah, you've got to be really careful about cynicism. It's very easy to venture into David Icke territory.

I can't help but feel that this is a funded attempt to subvert power away from OPEC nations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC

If so, could be to help these guys: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_(oil_companies)

It says in this article:http://ow.ly/syrfO "Google is a widely-known proponent of “green” energy, promoting low-power data centres and clean grid-based power whenever possible."

Excluding "It is good for mankind & the Earth", Why is it important to 'reduce' in western nations, when so many developing/upcoming/industrial/manufacturing/oil nations are laughing at this policy?

Something's up. And it isn't share price. Sorry for my conspiracy feelings -My instinct tells me there will be comments about being overly-conspiratorial (If so, this will suggest my instincts are correct), but I'm more than worried about my children's children and their future.

For some reason in these Austere times, there's a squeeze going on which is being driven by more than you and I are presently being told.

I am definitely not into conspiracy theories, but: if Google is really doing this out of best intentions which I can totally buy, and Google has no interest in spying on anyone personally, but only in selling ads, which I can also buy, I think it is still a problem. The thing is that once every household has a smart Internet connected gadget with eyes and ears and a way to load software onto it remotely, it is just too big a target for someone like the NSA not to go after. Why not load spy software on these just in case? Oh and it can all be legal and it can be made illegal for Google or Nest or whoever to talk about it.

The analogy here is something like the OnStar system in recent cars. I don't think that many people who made it happen primarily did so to give the banks a way to find and repo cars, but once a large percentage of cars have this system it does enable banks to do it much more efficiently. Not to mention what the authorities can do with these same systems.

This is absurd. That data isn't worth anything, let alone to make up for the investment in these things. No one cares that you turn off your lights at 9:43, or that you are at slightly more risk for diabetes. At least not advertisers or the government. And the government isn't paying for this stuff anyways, they just get a court order to take it for free.

If you are so afraid of data gathering it's pretty much impossible to do a lot of technologies. I can understand being against centralization and sending that data over a network to third parties. But even that is necessary in order to improve the product. You want your self driving car to have billions of hours of experience behind it, right?

"No one cares that you turn off your lights at 9:43, or that you are at slightly more risk for diabetes. At least not advertisers..."

Seriously? Lifestyle information is a gold mine for advertisers. If someone is diabetic, they need drugs, so I'm sure going to serve up more pharmaceutical ads (and those pay very well). If they're running the heater, they're almost certainly in the market for a jacket, blanket, or similar. Suddenly using "auto away" for stretches at a time? I bet they're traveling for work, and could use some luggage or a vacation to throw mileage points at.

Waay more profitable than just throwing random crap out there and seeing what sticks.

um, wat? I was commenting regarding ugly OEM themes ruining the paragon of perfection that is AOSP. I think you may have meant to reply to someone else.

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