Total Data Collection By Brian Simpson

     Hands up those who think that Google et al., are not on the road to world conquest and domination, much like the villains in the old 007 movies with Sean Connery and Roger Moore?
  http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/05/17/masters-of-the-universe-leaked-video-shows-googles-vision-of-total-data-collection/ 
  https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/17/17344250/google-x-selfish-ledger-video-data-privacy

“Google has built a multibillion-dollar business out of knowing everything about its users. Now, a video produced within Google and obtained by The Verge offers a stunningly ambitious and unsettling look at how some at the company envision using that information in the future. The video was made in late 2016 by Nick Foster, the head of design at X (formerly Google X) and a co-founder of the Near Future Laboratory. The video, shared internally within Google, imagines a future of total data collection, where Google helps nudge users into alignment with their goals, custom-prints personalized devices to collect more data, and even guides the behavior of entire populations to solve global problems like poverty and disease. When reached for comment on the video, an X spokesperson provided the following statement to The Verge: “We understand if this is disturbing -- it is designed to be. This is a thought-experiment by the Design team from years ago that uses a technique known as ‘speculative design’ to explore uncomfortable ideas and concepts in order to provoke discussion and debate. It’s not related to any current or future products.”

     I, for one, do not believe them, and I think it is wise today, to adopt the principle of guilty until proven innocent with these critters.