WEBVTT - What is the greatest threat to your privacy online?

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>slash tech Stuff. Hi to everybody, Welcome to the podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Chris Boulett. I'm an editor here at

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<v Speaker 1>how Stuff Works. And next to me, as usual, is

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<v Speaker 1>our senior writer, Jonathan Strickland. Hey there everyone, Actually I

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<v Speaker 1>probably shouldn't have revealed that. Oh yeah, you've you've violated

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<v Speaker 1>my privacy. Yeah, yeah, but I violated my own first,

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<v Speaker 1>so I guess it's okay, right, And and we're online,

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<v Speaker 1>so we're talking about online privacy. Hey you know what

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<v Speaker 1>that seguys right into what we were going to talk

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<v Speaker 1>about today, right, funny that. Yeah, so we're gonna talk

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<v Speaker 1>about is your greatest threat to your to your privacy online?

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<v Speaker 1>Clowns Now that that's just your the greatest threat to

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<v Speaker 1>your sanity online or otherwise? Um no, we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>actually two big contenders. So if if you'll just permit

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<v Speaker 1>me a little a little uh net cast magic, do

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<v Speaker 1>we do? We need to ring the here we go,

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<v Speaker 1>here we go and this corner we have weighing in

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<v Speaker 1>and who knows how much Internet service providers and their

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<v Speaker 1>opponent in the other corner or in the red trunks

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<v Speaker 1>we've got Google. Yeah, those are the two begins. Wouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>they be like the red and yellow and green and

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<v Speaker 1>blue trunks? Yeah? Pretty much, But I just didn't. I

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<v Speaker 1>kind of wanted to cut it short. I know people

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<v Speaker 1>don't like the hooky stuff so much as I do,

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<v Speaker 1>But so, yeah, those are the two begins. I think

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<v Speaker 1>most people agree that the two major potential threats to

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<v Speaker 1>your online privacy are your internet service provider or internet

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<v Speaker 1>service providers in general and M and Google and other

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<v Speaker 1>advertising agencies online as well. So not just Google. It

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<v Speaker 1>could be Yahoo or but really a double click is

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<v Speaker 1>a big one. But but since Google is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>the dominant uh web advertising company out there right now,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean when we think Google, we think Search, wrote you,

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<v Speaker 1>and I might not just think Search because we work

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<v Speaker 1>on so many other projects that involve Google. But in general,

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<v Speaker 1>you think Google Search, but what companies often think is

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<v Speaker 1>Google ad Sense add words. I mean, it's this online

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<v Speaker 1>advertising that's related to search. That is a very powerful

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<v Speaker 1>tool in the advertising world. Um, but it has some

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<v Speaker 1>pretty serious implications as to the average users privacy. So,

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<v Speaker 1>and if you if you're one of those who only

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<v Speaker 1>thinks of Google is search, and you use something like Gmail,

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<v Speaker 1>if you look to the right of your screen, to

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<v Speaker 1>the right of your email, you'll see ads um and uh,

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<v Speaker 1>that's pretty much the same can be said for a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of their services. Right, you know their texts, so

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<v Speaker 1>they don't you know, capture your eye always, but you

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<v Speaker 1>know they're they are. Yeah, And and here's where the

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<v Speaker 1>privacy thing comes in. Google can track where you go,

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<v Speaker 1>especially when you're using Search. They can see what you're

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<v Speaker 1>searching too. If you're using Google Chrome, they can check

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<v Speaker 1>pretty much everything you're doing, including everything you type into

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<v Speaker 1>the right right exactly. That's how the omnibar knows what

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<v Speaker 1>you're doing, right, I mean, other otherwise it's just magic.

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<v Speaker 1>And we don't cover that in this podcast. We just

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<v Speaker 1>concentrate in the science and texts. So you've got Google

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<v Speaker 1>where they're they're tracking where you're going. And it's not

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<v Speaker 1>necessarily for some sort of you know, nefarious purpose, but

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<v Speaker 1>but it is a concern, I mean it, and it

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<v Speaker 1>what it allows advertisers to do is or actually Google

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<v Speaker 1>itself to do, is to target you for very specific advertising.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's say, if you were like me, um, then

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<v Speaker 1>you may go to a lot of movie related websites.

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<v Speaker 1>Happens to be one of the things I like to

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<v Speaker 1>check out on almost a daily basis, So I tend

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<v Speaker 1>to go to a lot of um, not just the

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<v Speaker 1>Internet Movie Database, but things like chud and aint it

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<v Speaker 1>cool News and dark Horizons and all these other movie

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<v Speaker 1>news sites because I'm a movie news junkie. Well, if

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<v Speaker 1>Google's checking that out, then they can start targeting ads

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<v Speaker 1>to me that specifically relate back to my my apparent

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<v Speaker 1>uh love of movies. So it might be things like

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<v Speaker 1>uh ads for certain DVDs or or even movie clubs

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<v Speaker 1>or whatever. And this again doesn't necessarily sound nefarious, but

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<v Speaker 1>it does mean that what they're doing is they're looking

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<v Speaker 1>at my behavior and they're they're targeting me because of that.

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<v Speaker 1>So there that raises some warning flags. Right, Well, that's true.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, if you've ever been one of those people

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<v Speaker 1>who looks up at the the banner at at the

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<v Speaker 1>top of the screen and go, wait a minute, that's

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<v Speaker 1>for something in my town. How does it know where

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<v Speaker 1>I am? Right? Well, they can. They can tell from

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<v Speaker 1>your Internet protocol address. They can tell a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>things about you simply by you know, just you're using

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<v Speaker 1>the Internet from where where the because it has to

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<v Speaker 1>send traffic back to you, so they know where you

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<v Speaker 1>are sent right just by being there. And and Google

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<v Speaker 1>tries to frame this as a good thing and that

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<v Speaker 1>what they're doing is they're they're tailoring your search results

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<v Speaker 1>so that they're more relevant to you. And that sounds great.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I love the idea of if I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to search for something, it's gonna really bring back the

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<v Speaker 1>things that I most likely really want to see. But

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<v Speaker 1>that also means that Google knows more about me than

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<v Speaker 1>most of my close friends. I mean, And and there

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<v Speaker 1>comes a point where you say, well, what happens if

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<v Speaker 1>they start to use the information in other ways? The

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<v Speaker 1>whole issue about the putting your your medical records up online,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's a that's got a big can of

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<v Speaker 1>worms there. What happens if an insurance company gets to

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<v Speaker 1>access your medical records, sees that you have some sort

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<v Speaker 1>of family history of something, and then decides to hike

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<v Speaker 1>up your rates because of it or drop your coverage

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<v Speaker 1>because of it. UM. I mean, these are just some

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<v Speaker 1>of many privacy issues that that you really have to

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<v Speaker 1>think about. And the Internet has just kind of made

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<v Speaker 1>this a whole new problem, you know. I mean it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's a huge issue that isn't easily tackled. Yeah, that's

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<v Speaker 1>that's true. UM. Other search engines have tried to to

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<v Speaker 1>do that. Ask dot Com in fact, UM, not too

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<v Speaker 1>long ago. I guess a few months ago now offered

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<v Speaker 1>a way to erase your tracks um as you searched.

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<v Speaker 1>That's that's sort of a help. You could go into

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<v Speaker 1>your web browser and clear your your cookies out, which

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<v Speaker 1>will help. Those are basically cookies are are basically little

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<v Speaker 1>pieces of text that are stored on your computer that

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<v Speaker 1>that help UM. Advertisers and websites track where people are going. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, if you went to the New York Times website,

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<v Speaker 1>they would want to know if you were going to

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<v Speaker 1>the Washington Post, the l A Times, CNN to look

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<v Speaker 1>at other UH companies. They might want to know if

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<v Speaker 1>you shop on Amazon dot com. You know, those kinds

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<v Speaker 1>of information gets sent back to uh the New York

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<v Speaker 1>Times or whomever it is that that's putting that cookie

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<v Speaker 1>on your computer, so you can you can kind of

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<v Speaker 1>do you know, raise your own tracks. So your web

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<v Speaker 1>browser UM and UH Google Chrome their browser and the

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<v Speaker 1>new version of Internet Explorer are offering, uh offering a

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<v Speaker 1>sort of a privacy shroud so that you're searching and

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<v Speaker 1>anonymously theoretically, so UM yeah, so that you can sort

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<v Speaker 1>of mask what you're doing. UM. It's it's similar, I

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<v Speaker 1>guess in a way to uh to tour, which is

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<v Speaker 1>a UM sort of a it's kind of hard to

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<v Speaker 1>explain it, and redirects your certain your traffic, your web

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<v Speaker 1>traffic through servers in other parts of the world to

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<v Speaker 1>sort of hide your tracks. UM. So you know, those

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<v Speaker 1>things are things that you can do, uh to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, the question is are the sites able

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<v Speaker 1>to track you from that information? And right? And in general,

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<v Speaker 1>cookies don't really let sites track everything you do. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>Cookies mainly allow a website to see how often you

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<v Speaker 1>visit UM, and it allows you to store certain information

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<v Speaker 1>on your computer that makes it easier to load up

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<v Speaker 1>a page. UM, they're not really used to track everywhere

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<v Speaker 1>you go. Although there's a caveat to this. UM. Services

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<v Speaker 1>like double Click, which isn't a web advertising service. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they have ads all over the net. And if you

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<v Speaker 1>get a cookie for a double click add on one

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<v Speaker 1>site and then you go to a different site that

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<v Speaker 1>also has double click, then theoretically double click can see

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<v Speaker 1>both of those sites that you've visited, and they can

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<v Speaker 1>actually start to piece together information about a user, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>kind of profile a user based on the multiple visits. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>Whether or not they bothered to do that is another

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<v Speaker 1>question because you have to remember, uh, not everyone's using

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<v Speaker 1>the exact same computer all the time. Like if you're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about say a computer in a computer lab like

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<v Speaker 1>a library or something, you have multiple users all using

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<v Speaker 1>that computer. You can't really build a comprehensive profile on

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<v Speaker 1>someone if it's really you know, a hundred different individuals

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<v Speaker 1>who are using that computer throughout the course of a week.

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<v Speaker 1>So uh so cookie tracking, I mean you it is

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<v Speaker 1>a good idea to clear out your cookies regularly, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>if you want to try and protect your online privacy. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's probably not the most important factor to take into consideration.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's definitely something that you have control over yourself.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's a that's a positive and if nothing else,

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<v Speaker 1>there's nothing worse than stale cookies. Right, let's let's move

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<v Speaker 1>on to Internet service providers. Um, this is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>just really quickly. I mean, well, well, there are several

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<v Speaker 1>things we need to touch on in this discussion, but

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<v Speaker 1>we've already we've already kind of bashed Google a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh and I like, I like to say, I'm, I,

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<v Speaker 1>for one, welcome our Google overlords. But well, the reason

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<v Speaker 1>the reason we uh sort of pick on Google is

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<v Speaker 1>simply because they are uh, somebody that you will be

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<v Speaker 1>familiar with as a listener and uh, I mean certainly, um,

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<v Speaker 1>but also because they are so involved in the advertising world.

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<v Speaker 1>Um to yeah, yeah, I mean they're they're just big

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<v Speaker 1>enough so that you know, they are able to offer

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of advertising and a lot of search and

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of different kinds of products that you will

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<v Speaker 1>be interested in. But basically it's it's anybody of that

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<v Speaker 1>size that offers those services to you. Um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>toolbars that you plug in your browser. Basically, these things

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<v Speaker 1>are all ways for them to help get more demographic

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<v Speaker 1>information for their subscribers. So it's not just Google. So no,

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<v Speaker 1>that's just the easiest target in that bunch. But for

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<v Speaker 1>Internet service providers, UM, right, there are a lot of those. Recently,

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<v Speaker 1>an associate professor of law at Colorado Law School UM

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<v Speaker 1>named Paul Ohm mentioned that he believed he actually published

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<v Speaker 1>I think a seventy page something page document on the

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<v Speaker 1>issue that he believed the Internet service providers uh constitute

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest threat to our online privacy. And um, it's

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<v Speaker 1>because they can see everything that we're doing. Because technologies

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<v Speaker 1>now exist they allow i sp s to do deep

0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:50.240
<v Speaker 1>packet inspections on their users. Deep packet inspection it's pretty

0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:54.760
<v Speaker 1>creepy stuff actually, so they can really take a good

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<v Speaker 1>look at what you're doing where you're going online. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And and technically you would call it spying. They could

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<v Speaker 1>spy on you, now do they, Well, that's another matter.

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<v Speaker 1>The point is that they have that capability at this point. Yeah. Now, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>for the uninitiated, a packet is the way that information

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<v Speaker 1>gets sent around the internet. Uh. It may not seem

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<v Speaker 1>like that to you, but in the background, UH, to

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<v Speaker 1>send information on the Internet, a computer requests uh something

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<v Speaker 1>from another computer, and that computer sends it back. Now

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<v Speaker 1>how does it do that, Well, it breaks it into

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<v Speaker 1>lots and lots of tiny pieces. Um I think Mike

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<v Speaker 1>TV on Willy Wonka if you will, But lots of

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<v Speaker 1>little chunks of information called packets, and the uh, the

0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:46.120
<v Speaker 1>computer send that information to one another on various different

0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.959
<v Speaker 1>pieces of the Internet. UM, so that you know, if

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<v Speaker 1>it finds that one computer in between is down, it

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<v Speaker 1>can reroute the traffic to another computer. And that's how

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<v Speaker 1>you know, stuff gets from point A to point B

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<v Speaker 1>and back to point A on the Internet. Well, deep

0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.800
<v Speaker 1>pack and inspection. We're talking about the Internet service providers

0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:07.240
<v Speaker 1>ability to look at those chunks of information and this,

0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, can meet anything that you send, any key stroke, UM,

0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:16.719
<v Speaker 1>any password, emails, anything that's going across the Internet, they

0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.800
<v Speaker 1>can take a look at and and uh if they

0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:24.600
<v Speaker 1>really wanted to um. And there are many reasons they

0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:28.800
<v Speaker 1>might do this, one being again kind of selling information

0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:32.400
<v Speaker 1>to advertisers so that advertisers can target consumers. So sort

0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.200
<v Speaker 1>of the same thing Google is doing in that sense.

0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.679
<v Speaker 1>And uh. The question is whether the I s p

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.520
<v Speaker 1>s view advertising as a major source of revenue or

0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.400
<v Speaker 1>if they consider it themselves just to be Internet service providers,

0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.560
<v Speaker 1>like they're just selling access to the Internet. Uh, that's true.

0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:52.400
<v Speaker 1>I mean in March two thousand seven, UH, Compete Incorporated

0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:56.640
<v Speaker 1>Chief Technology Officer UM David Cancel said that i sp

0:13:56.760 --> 0:14:00.200
<v Speaker 1>s are selling their click streams. Uh, your customers click

0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:08.240
<v Speaker 1>streams too, different people for revenue, so you know, service provider. Yeah,

0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.199
<v Speaker 1>And I mean there there are hundreds of I s

0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.720
<v Speaker 1>p s out there and of all different sizes, so

0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:18.240
<v Speaker 1>it's we can't really paint them all with the same brush.

0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.720
<v Speaker 1>But the point is that they have the capability. Whether

0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:25.880
<v Speaker 1>or not they have the motivation is another matter. I guess, well,

0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.000
<v Speaker 1>they do have other reasons for doing Deep packet inspection

0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:33.480
<v Speaker 1>allows an I s P to see, um where traffic

0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:35.600
<v Speaker 1>is coming from. They can kind of get an idea.

0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.920
<v Speaker 1>They I sps can monitor the system traffic and if

0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.400
<v Speaker 1>all of a sudden there's a big spike in traffic

0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.760
<v Speaker 1>coming from one place, they might, you know, take a

0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.200
<v Speaker 1>look at the packets to see what's going on. And

0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.480
<v Speaker 1>if it turns out that someone has gotten a you know,

0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.720
<v Speaker 1>downloaded a trojan horse and their computer is now part

0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.680
<v Speaker 1>of a bot net and ascending out spam uh, as

0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.640
<v Speaker 1>part of a denial of service attack, they can shut

0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:02.600
<v Speaker 1>it down, right, so there's there's a good reason to

0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:05.120
<v Speaker 1>do it. They can they can tell exactly what what

0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:10.000
<v Speaker 1>program is used to do that. Um, so you know,

0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:14.680
<v Speaker 1>if you are downloading torrents. Yeah, actually that's only aware

0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:16.920
<v Speaker 1>of that. It's one of the issues that Professor own

0:15:17.040 --> 0:15:21.000
<v Speaker 1>was was talking about these about things like organizations like

0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.640
<v Speaker 1>the m p A A or the r I double A. Uh,

0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:28.240
<v Speaker 1>that would be the Motion Pictures Association American Good Old

0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.640
<v Speaker 1>Record Industry. Right. So yeah, these guys, they have a

0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:35.520
<v Speaker 1>vested interest in making sure that that they're that intellectual

0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.160
<v Speaker 1>property isn't being freely distributed across the Internet without you know,

0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:45.120
<v Speaker 1>the actual without people actually buying it. So they're they

0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.840
<v Speaker 1>they've been known to put pressure on I s p

0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.360
<v Speaker 1>s to look into that sort of thing. Um. Actually,

0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.680
<v Speaker 1>they've been known to put pressure on just about everybody.

0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>They're kind of like the the mafia of the corporate

0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:01.880
<v Speaker 1>world and in the United States at any rate. So

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.320
<v Speaker 1>they've they've put pressure, both political pressure and corporate pressure

0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.920
<v Speaker 1>on these kinds of organizations, um, to try and detect

0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:13.280
<v Speaker 1>this This digital theft essentially is what it is. And

0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:16.320
<v Speaker 1>to cut it off at the source. UM. So that

0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.640
<v Speaker 1>constitutes a privacy concern. Um. And of course there's always

0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.640
<v Speaker 1>the concern that the government could put pressure on I

0:16:23.800 --> 0:16:28.280
<v Speaker 1>s p s to reveal information about users. Um. And

0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.000
<v Speaker 1>you know, they may have reasons that sound perfectly legitimate,

0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:36.040
<v Speaker 1>like trying to battle terrorism, but it still means that

0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.400
<v Speaker 1>they're violating your privacy, which is one of those things

0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.040
<v Speaker 1>that the Supreme Court said, ages and ages and ages ago.

0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.360
<v Speaker 1>It was something that we pretty much have a right to.

0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:49.200
<v Speaker 1>We have the right to be let alone well against

0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:53.320
<v Speaker 1>unreasonable search, unreasonable search and seizure being a big one.

0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:57.080
<v Speaker 1>That would be the fourth Amendment that would be right there.

0:16:57.240 --> 0:16:59.600
<v Speaker 1>What's funny that you should mention the government because an

0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:03.320
<v Speaker 1>article wired on August fifteen, UH, A T and T

0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:09.880
<v Speaker 1>said that Google was more troublesome than their uh, their

0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:14.480
<v Speaker 1>program to install eavesdropping equipment on their network. Um yeah,

0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:18.320
<v Speaker 1>they said Google's advertising is much more serious than anything

0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:21.240
<v Speaker 1>that that we would do and the eavesdropping network. Now,

0:17:21.480 --> 0:17:25.159
<v Speaker 1>of course, A T and T is the UH the

0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.800
<v Speaker 1>target of a class action lawsuit for helping the n

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:32.439
<v Speaker 1>s A and wire tapping wortless wire tapping issues. So

0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:34.119
<v Speaker 1>so yeah, you guys take it with a grain of

0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:39.280
<v Speaker 1>salt um and uh in um. In August two thousand eight,

0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.600
<v Speaker 1>it turns out everyone's getting on the Google's worse than

0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:44.199
<v Speaker 1>we are a bandwagon. And this is not an i

0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:48.040
<v Speaker 1>sp but Microsoft said that, uh, they're actually the Peter Cullen,

0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:52.920
<v Speaker 1>the chief privacy strategists, said that Google's privacy standards are

0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:54.719
<v Speaker 1>not up to part There may be seven to ten

0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.280
<v Speaker 1>years behind Microsoft's own. According to an article in zd

0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:02.320
<v Speaker 1>Net Australia. So and and just in case you guys

0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.480
<v Speaker 1>think that we in the United States have it rough,

0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:06.720
<v Speaker 1>assuming that you know, for those of them, for those

0:18:06.720 --> 0:18:09.160
<v Speaker 1>of you listeners who are in the US, and you're like, wow,

0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.919
<v Speaker 1>this is really tough, keep in mind. In June of

0:18:12.960 --> 0:18:16.600
<v Speaker 1>this year over in Sweden, Swedish parliament passed a law,

0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 1>very controversial law that allows a government organization to monitor

0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:28.040
<v Speaker 1>and intercept all online traffic that crosses the Swedish border.

0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.200
<v Speaker 1>So anything that's going across the border, this this agency

0:18:32.400 --> 0:18:37.120
<v Speaker 1>can intercept and read and track back to whomever sent

0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.919
<v Speaker 1>it or received it. And there's also the fear that

0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:45.000
<v Speaker 1>perhaps this agency may even expand its capabilities beyond that

0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:47.760
<v Speaker 1>and be able to monitor all traffic within Sweden, whether

0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:52.240
<v Speaker 1>it crosses the border or not. So it's it's rough here,

0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.400
<v Speaker 1>it could be worse. The important thing is to keep

0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:56.560
<v Speaker 1>an eye on it to make sure it doesn't get worse.

0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.600
<v Speaker 1>That's true. And the other thing to to remember as

0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:06.400
<v Speaker 1>far as your privacy goes online is people don't really

0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:10.239
<v Speaker 1>have time to read all this stuff. So honestly, you know,

0:19:10.359 --> 0:19:12.720
<v Speaker 1>before you turn off the computer and and you know

0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:15.720
<v Speaker 1>throw it away and you know, freak out because your

0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:19.400
<v Speaker 1>privacy is being violated, it's probably not unless somebody has

0:19:19.680 --> 0:19:23.000
<v Speaker 1>real reason to. Uh. You know, people at I sps

0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.760
<v Speaker 1>and and search engines and advertising companies, they really don't

0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:29.440
<v Speaker 1>have time to look at your personal information. They're more interested,

0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.800
<v Speaker 1>they're more interested in you and as a number, um

0:19:32.880 --> 0:19:35.360
<v Speaker 1>than as as a person in your personal info. So

0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:42.480
<v Speaker 1>you're probably not seriously under suspicion and to jump off

0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:46.720
<v Speaker 1>the grid yet. No, but don't forget. Basically, anything you

0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.720
<v Speaker 1>do can be looked at. So you know, if you

0:19:49.920 --> 0:19:52.800
<v Speaker 1>are concerned about something that might be for it or

0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:56.840
<v Speaker 1>intercepted and might be embarrassing to you, maybe you're better

0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.600
<v Speaker 1>off leaving it offline. Right And if you're interested in

0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:04.200
<v Speaker 1>organ zations that that are very much focused on this issue,

0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:09.200
<v Speaker 1>I recommend visiting either the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has

0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:12.840
<v Speaker 1>some good information on this subject, or the Electronic Privacy

0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:16.600
<v Speaker 1>Information Center also known as EPIC. Both of those have

0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:20.800
<v Speaker 1>a lot of articles and documents on this reports. Um,

0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:23.240
<v Speaker 1>if you feel like you need to get involved, they

0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:28.040
<v Speaker 1>have information where you can look into doing that as well. So, UM,

0:20:28.040 --> 0:20:30.120
<v Speaker 1>it's really up to you. It's better to I think

0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:34.800
<v Speaker 1>better to be informed than not just in general. Well,

0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.200
<v Speaker 1>I guess that that pretty much wraps up our our

0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:41.600
<v Speaker 1>cheerful conversation on online privacy. UM as to whose worst

0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:43.639
<v Speaker 1>Google or the I s p S, I think time

0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.000
<v Speaker 1>will tell. Right now, it looks like Google's in the lead,

0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:48.840
<v Speaker 1>but uh, I s p S seem to have a

0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:52.840
<v Speaker 1>pretty good potential for UM for mass chaos down the road,

0:20:53.680 --> 0:20:57.640
<v Speaker 1>So cheer up. The world's about the end, right Well,

0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.320
<v Speaker 1>on that note, we're gonna take a little break. When

0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:05.679
<v Speaker 1>we come back, I'll tell you about a special place.

0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:09.439
<v Speaker 1>Special place that one might think only exists in fairy tales,

0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:14.480
<v Speaker 1>but in fact is reality. On this podcast is brought

0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.080
<v Speaker 1>to you by Go to Meeting, the web based tool

0:21:17.200 --> 0:21:19.919
<v Speaker 1>that lets you hold instant online meetings from your office,

0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:23.560
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0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:26.760
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0:21:26.800 --> 0:21:29.600
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0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:33.160
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0:21:33.200 --> 0:21:39.240
<v Speaker 1>tech stuff. Okay, so what is this special place. Well,

0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:42.800
<v Speaker 1>the special place would be the headquarters of Google, the

0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.200
<v Speaker 1>Google Plex. And what makes it so special, Well, it's

0:21:46.280 --> 0:21:50.439
<v Speaker 1>it's got some pretty amazing amenities. Uhwer of them than before,

0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:54.560
<v Speaker 1>Fewer than before, but still pretty pretty amazing. So yeah,

0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.520
<v Speaker 1>Google might be violating your privacy, but they're letting their

0:21:57.560 --> 0:22:02.840
<v Speaker 1>their employees swim in in infinity pools. So and some

0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:05.240
<v Speaker 1>free food, some free food. So if you want to

0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.600
<v Speaker 1>learn all about google Plex and see where these evil

0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:10.960
<v Speaker 1>geniuses work, you can read How the google Plex Works.

0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:16.400
<v Speaker 1>That's by Hey, it's by me jovin Strickland, and that's

0:22:16.480 --> 0:22:20.000
<v Speaker 1>live at how stuff Works dot com. Right now, we'll

0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:24.480
<v Speaker 1>pause you again, really sick. Let us know what you think.

0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:27.680
<v Speaker 1>Send an email to podcasts and how Stuff Works dot

0:22:27.720 --> 0:22:35.359
<v Speaker 1>Com brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:36.880
<v Speaker 1>It's ready, are you