ARE WE BEING STALKED!

By Amit Jugran

"We are moving to a Google that knows more about you."

— Google CEO Eric Schmidt, speaking to financial analysts,
February 9, 2005, as quoted in the New York Times the next day

Stirred by the two incidents in the past two weeks, I have started to wonder if my privacy is being invaded by the simplest and great invention of our time-The great Google. Under the garb of marketing and the complex revenue models companies like Google operate with, I have started to be hounded with thoughts of a sci-fi flick where future of man-kind is slaved by technology. I seriously start to ponder, if am being stalked. Stalked only to eventually become a pray to the convenience that is offered today! Am not sure, but it looks likely. Definitely.

While in office I freaked out of my chair. I got a sms marketing a particular investment scheme, which took me by surprise. No, I was not getting the product free or a fancy car with a one plus one offer. I was taken aback by the sheer canniness of the sms for what I was thinking a minute back.

Rewind the situation by merely a minute.

I was thinking of a monthly life insurance scheme of a particular company. I decided to ‘Google’ the scheme to get more information. I was quite forthright with my search criteria and was immediately taken to the homepage of the desired life insurer. And bang. A minute later I get a marketing message on my phone. No, I did not fill up any form or give out any detail on the insurer’s website.

Similarly, last week, I was planning a holiday for my family and Googled a location with adequate details to check for possible vacation options. A while later, I happen to get promotional emails from a few travel agents with exact information that I was seeking. Again, it was a plain and simple search that I did. No filling of forms or giving out any information whatsoever. I was delighted to start with, however horrified to have realized the far reaching implications.

YES, I AM BEING STALKED.

But how it happened. I was amused. Only to realize, it’s simple the way it works. But simple only in today’s context, and potentially nasty in the larger framework.

Amazing as it may sound, ‘stalking’ may just be the most lucrative business model for Google as I see. Google would have all the information stored in their servers for all the search being done on their search engine around the world. So if am wanting to buy an investment product and search for it, Google only needs to throw it back to the company. The company would only be too happy to have found a potential customer. If you are wondering that how would Google get to know the identity of the person doing the search; well it’s easy. One inadvertently Googles while being logged into gmail, thereby letting Google handlers know your complete identity. And the so called ‘value chain’ gets completed with the advent of your mobile operator. The companies have already sourced huge databases of customers from ‘more-than-willing-to-share-for-money’ mobile operators. It takes the most basic software to cull out your complete profile in less then a milli-second by comparing your Google and Mobile profile. No wonder Google is making a grand entry into mobile-telephony!

In today’s challenging and most competitive scenario, it makes perfect sense to innovate in order to reach out to customers. But to what extent is the question. One is too happy to let the ‘stalking’ prevail till the time it helps the potential customer and facilitate companies’ objective to sell. But what steps are being taken to prevent the ‘stalking’ from becoming an invasion of privacy. To my knowledge, None.

Today, Google is my best friend, to an extent that I will find it difficult to move along without it. For any thought that comes to my mind, it is Google that I let know first, even before my wife. Infact Google is there for me always, and unfortunately I could spend only as much time with my wife. As I think of a friend or a girl friend, or a car, or a restaurant or sex for that matter, I share it with Google first. Google is my first source of information. But now I feel it could be nasty. Nastier than I could imagine. I really don’t know whether Google is my friend or foe. I don’t think I will be comfortable sharing my utmost feelings, or secrets for that matter, with someone I don’t know of. I am happy if Google facilitate my buying, but am not happy if Google lets my cloak-and-dagger out.

I don’t have a knightly answer to the potential threat that Google has posed me with. In the simplest way, I can only be saved by myself. While Googling I ensure that I am not logged in to Google brethren-Gmail, buzz etc etc. They can’t find me if they don’t know me!

I don’t want to be Googled. And I do not want to be STALKED.