Google: The Worldwide Assistant

Google has led us to believe that it has had enough of the fuss surrounding its love of sniffing around in its customers’ emails. Its philosophy is absolute and allows for no argument. The U.S.-based multinational explains that “just as a sender of a letter to a business colleague cannot be surprised that the recipient’s assistant opens the letter, people who use web-based email today cannot be surprised if their emails are processed by the recipient’s [email provider] in the course of delivery.”

On the other side of the dispute, and rather unconvinced by Google’s arguments, is John M. Simpson, head of the U.S. Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Sending an email is like giving a letter to the Post Office … I expect the Post Office to deliver the letter based on the address written on the envelope. I don’t expect the mail carrier to open my letter and read it.” Therefore, he claims that Google does not respect its users’ privacy and has no shame in admitting it.

The battle has commenced. New technologies arrived with the promise of making things easier, bringing people closer together, allowing us to save a great deal of time on daily tasks. We no longer need paper and pens, envelopes, stamps or mailboxes, etc. With a single click of a mouse we can send a declaration of love, a bill, instructions for making a bomb or a simple recipe for croquettes.

At that same moment, a legion of robots starts working to find the traces of your private correspondence that may be relevant. Why? According to the United States, they can spy on social network, emails and other such electronic media used daily by the public in order to avoid, for example, a threat such as the incident with former CIA employee Edward Snowden.

These robots not only collaborate, so to speak, to save our skins from an attack. They also want to help in other fields. If they detect the word “love” in your email, they then fill your inbox with addresses of florists. They check to see if you have written “taxes” and pass on your details to the tax office. Google says it best: the blessing of having a good assistant. However, no one has been asked if they wanted or needed one.