[Search-l] and it (officially) begins, 24 years late

[Linas Vepstas]

2008/8/12 Jeremie Miller <jeremie at jabber.org>:
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102270_pf.html
>
> The second sentence really stands out:
>
>        "And Google, the leading online advertiser, stated that it has begun
> using Internet tracking technology that enables it to more precisely
> follow Web-surfing behavior across affiliated sites."
>
> I kinda figured they were anyway, but still the direct confirmation is
> hard to learn.
>
> I really don't mind as much as long as there's healthy competition and
> alternatives :)

Yeah, a sentiment that is perhaps widely shared. But perhaps
a study of history, say, starting with J. Edgar Hoover, might
lead one to conclude the opposite.  As a human race, we've
experienced both benign and malicious surveillance, and we
still don't have terribly good mechanisms for keeping the two
apart.  Vigilance  and paranoia about intentions, a healthy
skeptical attitude, would seem to be very prudent, lest some
nasty, ugly history repeat itself.

--linas