Google, as of March 1, has bowled a googly. As it changes its privacy policy to unabashedly intrusive, it is opening a new battleground — with users on one side and the Web on the other. If Google emerges victorious, then it’s pretty clear that user information will no longer be a privilege granted to search engines and web services, but rather a right that’s being given away without a choice. Behind it all though, Google is running away from its stated code of conduct — ‘Don’t Be Evil’.
According to Google’s investor relations site, among other things, that code of conduct is “about doing the right thing more generally — following the law, acting honourably and treating each other with respect.”
If that’s indeed the case the Mountain View, Calfornia-based giant seems to have deviated plenty. So far, it has shown little respect to users because it failed to consult the vast community of consumers whose information it is mass-tapping. All it’s done instead, is alerted them to the change in privacy policy, under which it will combine user information from some 60 sites ranging from You Tube to Google Maps and Gmail, collate that data and pass it on to advertisers to reveal user preferences.
Advertisers will then be able to use that data to target consumers, which is really the only way Google makes any money. It’s not like Google wasn’t doing that previously, it did that for individual searches but now it's creating a more intelligent matrix of information that's like passing on a user’s supermarket bill. Sure, consumers could opt out and keep the information private, but that is pretty much the same as giving up shopping at the store.
It doesn’t quite stop there. Google has locked horns in Europe by ignoring a European Union directive to “pause” the change in privacy policy. The EU has already raised several questions saying Google’s policy does not meet the requirements of the European directive on data protection where web-based firms need user permission to store and sell their data to other businesses.
Google has responded by saying that “to pause now would cause a great deal of confusion for users.” Unfortunately, there seems to be very little that’s honourable about hiding behind the very users it failed to consult, before making privacy changes.
Google’s tough stance sends out other damaging messages. Dismissing the EU directive sends the signal that it doesn't really care and that as a corporation, it is above the law. That makes it seem arrogant.
Then there is the issue of trust. Last year, Google was forced to abandon Google Buzz after it misled users into thinking they could fully opt out of the social networking site. It then had to enter into an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission, promising not to change privacy settings without user permission. A year later, questions are being raised about whether it's forgotten that promise.
By acting the way it is, Google’s taking away the one thing that consumers like the most about brands — the power of being in control and the power to choose.
It is a common enough argument in brand building that consumers don’t really value brands — they value the ideology the brand represents. For many years, Google helped break down the barriers to information by making it widely available. It empowered the web and that’s how its tagline — Don’t be Evil — resonated with users. Now, after earning a top slot as one of the world’s most recognised brands, when its actions start to represent the very things it fought, it looks pretty dreadful.
Anjana Menon is a Delhi-based writer menon.anjana@gmail.com
