For all of you who get excited about everything Google offers for free, be alerted about Google's newest browser, Chrome. Please do note that nothing in this world is free; if it is, then the truth is hidden behind the facade. Remember, one of Google's revenue stream is selling user data to corporates around the world.
The first blow came when Chrome's end user license agreement appeared to give Google a perpetual right to use anything one entered into the browser. Section 11 said that users retained the copyright to their works, but "by submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services". Whew!
Stung by the outcry from the internet community, Google quickly said that it planned to soften the contract terms, which will retroactively apply to anyone who has already downloaded the browser.
There are also privacy concerns: what type of information does Google plan to store on its servers to provide the autosuggestion feature? Right now the company states that if users leave on the autosuggest feature in Chrome and have Google as their default search provider, they have the right to store any information typed in the Omnibox. This is the easiest way to build tech profiles of users, say experts, since what we search for defines who we are.
Google has clarified that it plans to store about 2% of all such data, along with the IP address of where the query was entered.
The browser war has begun in earnest. Microsoft’s recently released eighth avatar (beta) of IE made a big pitch for privacy. Firefox’s next version promises higher speed and other bonbons. Tech pundits say that it will be difficult to wean loyalists from IE, especially since the bulk of the users are regular, not-so-tech-savvy netizens. Mozilla’s Firefox (Google’s former pal) might be on a slippery slope, since it also uses an open source browser and appeals to the cool quotient.
As for Chrome, the jury is still out.
The first blow came when Chrome's end user license agreement appeared to give Google a perpetual right to use anything one entered into the browser. Section 11 said that users retained the copyright to their works, but "by submitting, posting or displaying the content you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any content which you submit, post or display on or through, the services". Whew!
Stung by the outcry from the internet community, Google quickly said that it planned to soften the contract terms, which will retroactively apply to anyone who has already downloaded the browser.
There are also privacy concerns: what type of information does Google plan to store on its servers to provide the autosuggestion feature? Right now the company states that if users leave on the autosuggest feature in Chrome and have Google as their default search provider, they have the right to store any information typed in the Omnibox. This is the easiest way to build tech profiles of users, say experts, since what we search for defines who we are.
Google has clarified that it plans to store about 2% of all such data, along with the IP address of where the query was entered.
The browser war has begun in earnest. Microsoft’s recently released eighth avatar (beta) of IE made a big pitch for privacy. Firefox’s next version promises higher speed and other bonbons. Tech pundits say that it will be difficult to wean loyalists from IE, especially since the bulk of the users are regular, not-so-tech-savvy netizens. Mozilla’s Firefox (Google’s former pal) might be on a slippery slope, since it also uses an open source browser and appeals to the cool quotient.
As for Chrome, the jury is still out.
good piece bro...I was digging chrome..but of course never read the small print lah kan..
ReplyDeleteFirefox all the way..haha
yeah firefox all the way! besok wat time masak?
ReplyDeleteps: if u subscribed to any RSS, u might have noticed some reposts. just ignore them.
esok start after zuhur...come2...bring anyone willing..haha...
ReplyDelete