> would not care much if Google had a lot of information about me if their goal was something other than influencing me to buy products and services
Ironically, I'm the opposite. I don't care about the advertising targeted at me (I pretty much never bought anything based on targeted advertising). I worry about the knowledge about someone being used to hurt them.
For example, a professor once said that each of us commits 3 felonies a day. With perfect knowledge of people, it brings the specter of selective enforcement. That selective enforcement can be used to blackmail/extort/manipulate anyone you want to.
For a fictional example, check out the TV series "Suits". The "good guys" are always turning the tables on the "bad guys" by digging into their past and finding dirt on them. And vice versa. It's the plot of pretty much every episode. (But of course the good guys do this for good, and the bad guys use it for bad. But in real life, this isn't so simple.)
Even if you think outing people for doing bad things is always a good thing, the data collected on people is often wrong, and innocents get hurt as well. The definition of what is "bad" also shifts over time.
Ironically, I'm the opposite. I don't care about the advertising targeted at me (I pretty much never bought anything based on targeted advertising). I worry about the knowledge about someone being used to hurt them.
For example, a professor once said that each of us commits 3 felonies a day. With perfect knowledge of people, it brings the specter of selective enforcement. That selective enforcement can be used to blackmail/extort/manipulate anyone you want to.
For a fictional example, check out the TV series "Suits". The "good guys" are always turning the tables on the "bad guys" by digging into their past and finding dirt on them. And vice versa. It's the plot of pretty much every episode. (But of course the good guys do this for good, and the bad guys use it for bad. But in real life, this isn't so simple.)
Even if you think outing people for doing bad things is always a good thing, the data collected on people is often wrong, and innocents get hurt as well. The definition of what is "bad" also shifts over time.