Young will have to change names to escape 'cyber past'? Google will do our thinking for us?

Fascinating story, from the Telegraph:
"Young will have to change names to escape 'cyber past' warns Google's Eric Schmidt"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/7951269/Young-will-have-to-change-names-to-escape-cyber-past-warns-Googles-Eric-Schmidt.html

As if the headline weren't enough, consider the thoughts at the end of the article:
"Using profiles of it customers and tracking their locations through their smart phones, it will be able to provide live updates on their surroundings and inform them of tasks they need to do."

"'We're trying to figure out what the future of search is,' Mr Schmidt said. 'One idea is that more and more searches are done on your behalf without you needing to type. I actually think most people don't want Google to answer their questions. They want Google to tell them what they should be doing next.'"


Here are a couple more views on this subject, first from the Wall Street Journal (Holman Jenkins):
"Google and the Search for the Future"
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704901104575423294099527212.html

Next, from Nicholas Carr:
"Brave New Google"
http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2010/08/brave_new_googl.php
Check out this sarcastic quote from this article:
"I hope Google will also be able to tell me the best candidate to vote for in elections. I find that such a burden."

And finally, going back to March, from Fortune/CNNmoney.com:
"Top 5 moments from Eric Schmidt's talk in Abu Dhabi"
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/03/11/top-five-moments-from-eric-schmidts-talk-in-abu-dhabi/
These quotes really sum up Google's self-view, as expressed by Schmidt. Is Google full of itself and overly self-righteous? Or is it just realistically expressing the fact that it is a powerful, influential company?

1. "If you're a famous television producer, you'll build a show on the Internet first …."

2. "Advertising that is more targeted is worth more money. … Eventually, the revenue in the digital world should be higher."

3. "Would you prefer someone else?"

4. "There are many, many things that Google could do, that we chose not to do."

5. "Google sees itself really differently from other companies …."

I like #5, because it is true in many ways. But #3 is the most interesting to me. Do you trust Google to have so much information about you? Would you trust government more with this information? (I wouldn't!) Easy for me to say, Google already knows a LOT about me! As the article points out, accurately I think, "It was quite the effective moment that showed we still trust government less than we trust Google. But should we trust either?"


What do you think? Scary that a company knows so much about you? Willing to trade some privacy for productivity?

I don't know the answer, but whenever I hear stories like this I go back to my default joke: "Be nice to your Android phone. It will remember how you treated it when its kind takes over..." [insert forced laughter here] ;)