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Can We Unclick Google?

A challenge to activists of the twenty-first century: how can we effectively fight back against Google's violation of our online privacy?

In a blog post earlier this week, I proposed an activist solution to Google's announcement that they would expand their tracking of users. In a post entitled unClick Google, I suggested that we undermine Google's business model, and their justification for creating behavioral profiles of the websites we frequent, by using a Firefox plugin to automatically click on all the Google AdSense ads. In so doing, I released a storm of debate over the possibility of forcing Google to adopt a pro-privacy corporate policy.

Google is a massive data warehouse that most internet users share personal information with, knowingly or not, every time they open a web browser. As many readers pointed out, even Adbusters utilizes Google's services on our website. Since 2007 we have relied on Google Analytics to analyze our website traffic. And by doing so we have shared our website statistics with Google.

The primary critique we heard of the idea I put forward was that Google's AdSense system has accomplished a "democratization of advertisers" by bringing many small shop owners into the business of placing online ads. Therefore, our plan to click on ads without viewing them, struck many people as harmful to the very people we want to help -- small, local businesses.

For others, the solution to rampant online advertising and Google tracking lies in a technological, not activist, praxis. They proposed that we use Firefox and install Adblock Plus which removes advertisements or NoScript which block trackers. Others pointed towards the ability to "opt-out" of Google's behavioral profiling by installing a piece of Google software in their browser. Or maybe we should all use alternatives to Google like Scroogle and Clusty.

The most important question that this tussle with Google raises is whether a fight against Google is even possible. Or is Google too big, too intertwined in the fabric of the internet, to be critiqued and forced to bow to our collective protest?

Clearly we are in a new era of activism and there are not any proven tactical answers. But one thing is clear: Google may be the culturejammer's toughest adversary yet.

Weigh in below and let's work together to build a strategy to jam Google and reclaim our online privacy.

Micah White is a Contributing Editor at Adbusters Magazine and an independent activist. He is writing a book on the future of activism. www.micahmwhite.com

95 comments on the article “Can We Unclick Google?”

Displaying 11 - 20 of 95

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Moderate

Now that all the slashdot.org posters are gone, we can have a real discussion about the ideas proposed in these posts. Personally, it appears to me that people are simply terrified of resisting Google... and that means that Google must be resisted. As for the best way to do that, I think clicking on all ads sounds effective because it entirely undermines the paradigm of paid-per-click advertising. what I'd like to see is people stepping up and actually doing something to fight back against google instead of just critiquing other people's actions.

Moderate

Now that all the slashdot.org posters are gone, we can have a real discussion about the ideas proposed in these posts. Personally, it appears to me that people are simply terrified of resisting Google... and that means that Google must be resisted. As for the best way to do that, I think clicking on all ads sounds effective because it entirely undermines the paradigm of paid-per-click advertising. what I'd like to see is people stepping up and actually doing something to fight back against google instead of just critiquing other people's actions.

phis

so after reading this i searched for a google alternative its called "Cuil" created by one of the original google creators. ok, its not a google alternative per sae. It doesn't have all the google services reunited, but it allows you search the web privacy " when you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period. We have no idea who sends queries: not by name, not by IP address, and not by cookies (more on this later). Your search history is your business, not ours."(from their pivacy statement,http://www.cuil.com/info/privacy/ , July 2008). the home page is nice ( black, dichotomy of google's original white ?!!?!) but the results page is completely different, might need some getting use too. also for a quick hint regarding privacy, the use of opensource software guarded by the GNU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License) licence, usually have a good alternative to most privately owned services. They as well regard privacy as an important element among others. But as for email,maps i have not found any free alternative as of yet. cheers

phis

so after reading this i searched for a google alternative its called "Cuil" created by one of the original google creators. ok, its not a google alternative per sae. It doesn't have all the google services reunited, but it allows you search the web privacy " when you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period. We have no idea who sends queries: not by name, not by IP address, and not by cookies (more on this later). Your search history is your business, not ours."(from their pivacy statement,http://www.cuil.com/info/privacy/ , July 2008). the home page is nice ( black, dichotomy of google's original white ?!!?!) but the results page is completely different, might need some getting use too. also for a quick hint regarding privacy, the use of opensource software guarded by the GNU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_General_Public_License) licence, usually have a good alternative to most privately owned services. They as well regard privacy as an important element among others. But as for email,maps i have not found any free alternative as of yet. cheers

Anonymous

Perhaps at this point in time, Cuil has a better privacy policy than Google. But I'm struggling to find anything that differentiates today's Cuil from that of pre-IPO Google. Is it worth placing our faith in some nameless board of directors of some privately held corporation to put our privacy over their profits? What's to stop Cuil's privacy policy from ballooning over 300% in word count just as the Google privacy policy has done since 2000? We need to create and use fundamentally new, open, and democratizing solutions on the internet -- not the same centralized, repackaged corporate tools that are seemingly impossible to run away from today. Just my opinion.

Anonymous

Perhaps at this point in time, Cuil has a better privacy policy than Google. But I'm struggling to find anything that differentiates today's Cuil from that of pre-IPO Google. Is it worth placing our faith in some nameless board of directors of some privately held corporation to put our privacy over their profits? What's to stop Cuil's privacy policy from ballooning over 300% in word count just as the Google privacy policy has done since 2000? We need to create and use fundamentally new, open, and democratizing solutions on the internet -- not the same centralized, repackaged corporate tools that are seemingly impossible to run away from today. Just my opinion.

phis

I completely agree. Its difficult at the server level to have free hosting servers, due to maintenance. For now i guess, as a temporary measure, we'll have to keep jumping sinking ships as they change their privacy statements. At the software level, linux operating systems and software have become relatively simple for an opensource and free alternative. They have strong community, democratization of knowledge and mutual aid values. its quite refreshing. certainly something for everyone to look into.

phis

I completely agree. Its difficult at the server level to have free hosting servers, due to maintenance. For now i guess, as a temporary measure, we'll have to keep jumping sinking ships as they change their privacy statements. At the software level, linux operating systems and software have become relatively simple for an opensource and free alternative. They have strong community, democratization of knowledge and mutual aid values. its quite refreshing. certainly something for everyone to look into.

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