When I first started using the
internet, I used Yahoo when I wanted
to search for anything. It fulfilled all my search-related needs; I typed in
what I wanted and it came back with a list of pages pertaining to my search.
I didn’t really notice Google being launched in 1998. Why would
I? It was just a search-engine, wasn’t it? And – as I’ve already pointed out –
my search needs were already being fulfilled by Yahoo.
Then Google took over the world. It made it easier for us to find any
information we wanted. It gave us satellite images of places; street-level
views of roads and buildings. It provided instant, rough translations of web
pages from any language into another. It was so successful that it actually
became a verb.
So, how did it become so huge so
quickly? Well, according to Pravda[1],
Google has been a key participant in
US Military and CIA operations. These have involved torture, as well as
subversion of foreign governments. There’s also been US Military aggression in
countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
The Washington Post[2]
reported that Google provided
customised core search technology for Intellipedia,
a highly-secure online system enabling 37,000 US spies and other related
personnel to share information. Launched in 2006, it grew rapidly so that
within just three years, it had more than 100,000 user accounts editing 900,000
pages at a rate of 15,000 edits per day.
The company had also been linked,
through Google Earth, to US spy and
military systems. The technology for the software was originally developed by Keyhole Inc, which was funded by a
venture-capital firm called Q-Tel,
which itself is openly funded and operated on the CIA’s behalf. Google
acquired Keyhole Inc in 2004.
If these reports are accurate,
then there is a real connection between Google
and the US Military and CIA. This
poses questions about just how private our online activities are. There have
long been concerns and accusations about Google
monitoring us and sharing our information. These take on added significance in
light of the company’s connections with one of the world’s biggest military and
spying organisations.
Big Brother is, indeed, watching.
Privacy has become a fond memory we try to kid ourselves that we still have.
Our lives have become files on a network server. How long before these files
control our lives? How long before they can be manipulated to profoundly affect
our lives?
Scared…? I guess I would be if I gave a shit.
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