National Post

Is Google evil? Not really
Google Inc. is evil. Or maybe it isn’t. Perhaps no other technology company in history has worked quite so hard to cultivate a wholesome, trusting image as Google, what with its primary coloured-search engine, the stories of free M&M’s candies for employees and its famous “Don’t be evil” corporate mantra.

Indeed, beyond its playful branding, Google has spent much of the past decade casting itself in the role of Defender of the Open Internet, hero to users, ally of advertisers and enemy of all that is soulless and wrong in the dark corners of the Web.

But lately, it seems, perceptions of Google have changed. There are those who now see Google as an anti-hero, an overgrown bully, drunk on its own power, collecting the data of millions of users in an effort to line its own pockets, privacy be damned.

In a word, evil.

Which is utter nonsense. This week, alarm bells went off throughout the technology industry and the blogosphere when Google announced a series of updates to its privacy policies. At the core of the changes are Google’s plans to consolidate most of its 70-odd privacy rules that govern its various properties — including YouTube, Gmail, and its search engine — into a single, overarching Google privacy policy. (Photo: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)