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Interesting topic purely from the point of view that ethics appeared in the discussion almost immediately.
I agree, google will use the information ASAP to increase profits ASAP that's just good financial business.
BUT is it ethical? is a valid question and is not a sunday school morality discussion.
Ethics are part of our everyday lives and business lives. If we had no ethics then I'd shoot some of my competition, neighbours (and a few of my customers just because they deserved it)
When we choose to use free tools, or take that free widget offer, we are agreeing to take part in a barter, and the other party is getting something in return that they value. When we use google tools, each of us should be assessing, how much that information is worth to us, and how much it is worth to google. There is a pure business assessment, and there is an ethical assessment - do we agree/disagree/can live with what google will do with the information we will give them.
Google has a business decision and whether to make as much money as possible out of the information it receives, but it also has an ethical decision on if it should make that amount of money.
Just because the current business philosophy dictates that profit rules all other considerations and ethics can go out of the window, does not mean that that practise is correct, ethical and sustainable.
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