COMMENTARY | The European Union and Congress are investigating the new Google privacy settings, which are set to roll out March 1, according to Fox News. The new settings would give Google more options and abilities to track the online movements of customers. As someone who studies our government, I see much more at stake here than our protection.
First, Congress has been investigating Google for months over the possibility of the Internet company being too large. Our representatives have looked into Google Panda , which was a series of changes to the algorithm used to rank sites in searches. Questions have been asked if the company is using this system to promote sites which use Google Adsense and penalize those which do not. This is another step in the congressional investigations.
At the same time, the E.U. and U.S. do not want a company tracking the online movements of government officials. Could Google become a threat to national security? Could the ability for the giant to track our every move cause the system to become a target for hackers and threaten national security? At the same time, are our leaders going to sites which they would not want exposed?
Could the U.S. spy network be put in danger by a site which has the ability to track all movements? Could what is stored through the new privacy settings give Google too much clout on the world market? Is the Internet giant making itself the world's Big Brother? These are concerns which are secretly keeping government officials up at night?
When most people think of members of Congress, they might think about politicians who were elected by the people or who battle on Capitol Hill for what is best of the citizens. Of course, others will think of a group of stuffy people who only look out for their own concerns.
What we often forget about is how every member of Congress is charged with keeping the secrets of the U.S. If any new technique becomes available which could compromise government secrets, it is the unspoken responsibility of Congress to investigate and eradicate. The investigation into Google's now privacy settings may have the official tag of keeping our rights, but there is always an ulterior motive in politics. We might all benefit from the government wanting to keep their secrets.
5 comments