Why one shouldn't use Google's services, part 2 - Google steals your data

We already know that Google has an incredible arrogant attitude and massively bad customer service. New is, that they steal your personal data and use them to make money.

That’s not new, you say? I agreed to it, you think? Wrong! I did not!

There’s 2 legal ways how Google can use your data at the moment:

1.) Google Mail. In the terms, you agree to Google scanning and analyzing your mails for advertising purposes. The tricky part is that they also scan incoming mails from outside GMail. When being told that they can’t do that, Google answered “well, everybody knows, we are scanning Gmail, so it’s implied consent if anybody sends an email to a GMail-user.” Right… talking about arrogant. But - not the issue here. By the way: I do have a GMail account but I do not use it for any personal communication. Guess, why!

2.) Google Plus. Google recently announced that they want to use the names of G+ users for advertising in the form of “recommendations” to friends. They did, however, promise that it would be an opt-in system, i.e. that users have to actively decide that they want to allow that. I didn’t opt-in anywhere - probably because I don’t have any Google Plus profile. Again, guess, why!

Now, what did happen…?

I was tinkering with my Android tablet (running on CyanogenMod 10) and went to the play store to check for new apps. On the home page, I noticed the “Recommended for You” apps. In three “recommendations” was the comment “Janne xxxxxxx +1’d this”. Who is Janne xxxxxxx? Janne works in one of the schools in which I studied Finnish. I emailed him a couple of times and he emailed me back but not via GMail. He is also in my tablet’s addressbook.

Let me repeat again:

1. I do not have a Google Plus profile
2. I do not use Google Mail for private/personal communications and I never mailed with Janne through Google Mail
3. Janne is in my tablet’s address-book

Logical conclusion: The only possible way how Google could have determined that I might know Janne and I might be interested in what he recommends, is by analyzing the address-book of my tablet. A process that I for sure never consented to.

In my book, that is espionage, hence I filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner and a crime report with the Irish Police.

Bottom line: Do not, under any circumstances, use any type of Google service or product for any kind of personal or private data! Better not use them at all. Google will take your data and use them to make money, careless of what you consent to or not.