It's not so much the fact it's google it could be spock or facebook. Public companies that keep everything you pump into it via the Internet can be considered harmful. Listen to this talk by the Eben Moglen talk, "Freedom Businesses Protect Privacy" [0] to understand the implications.
I get the impression that it's a generational thing... overall, people of Generation Y and the younger generation seem less concerned about the personal information abundance on the internet.
"... people of Generation Y and the younger generation seem less concerned about the personal information abundance ..."
Could be. I get the impression that "geny"'s (I'm a "genxr" http://flickr.com/photos/bootload/227128232/ ) are sort of adapting to posting personal info and are work out strategies to blunt the side effects. It's personal choice to add a blow by blow description of your youth.
There are implications for individuals and groups however. To me its about "Power" of who has "Control" of memory. In historical past this was public. Technology that captures "private memories" of useful information that can be "shared or withheld" and abused. The real danger is inference and prediction from the data that leaks, often voluntary into private/public databases through bailment ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailment
facebook knows when my friends get together and have a party. it also knows who my friends are, how we met, and where we grew up.
so what? i put all of that information up there intentionally. if google wants to collect such information and use it to help me, and maybe put ads in front of me that may even be helpful, then great.
Right. I think modern information abundance is great too but I'm the same age as you. This makes many older people, especially much older people, fundamentally uncomfortable.
