Come on, please don't post this sort of baity, unsubstantive, generic swipe to HN.

When someone's pre-existing agenda starts showing up in arbitrary ways like this in every conceivably relevant thread, it becomes a moderation issue.

Larry didn't take it from anyone. We gave it to him. He just monetized it.

You cannot give something away without realizing it. Google's collection of shadow data on people is not "Given" to them. Most people don't know when and how they collect it. I didn't "Give" Google data any more than I gave data to the guy who drove by my car and collected the plate number when I went to the store a few weeks ago.

Alternatively, data could be considered not to exist until it is collected. In this way Larry is neither stealing it nor are you giving it. I personally find this interpretation more compelling. Otherwise you'd get weird conclusions, like Darwin stealing evolution from nature, rather than being the creator of the idea and the data that supports it.

We're off in the weeds now.

The point here is that there was no agreement about this... or even knowledge about the collection of data. There was unilateral action on the part of Google/ Facebook to secretly create data collection points all over our lives.

The person I replied to suggested we volunteered this information to Google. Which is almost entirely untrue. Most people Google and Facebook track have zero knowledge they are being tracked.

I don't want to blame "most people". But had they read the agreements (!) and understood them (!!) they were told they were being tracked.

So I blame the people a bit, but I blame a media culture that didn't make it clear, and an educational system that prevented them from understanding what was happening.

While it may be true that what Google has become played a major role in taking everyone's privacy, I don't think it's fair to blame this on Larry. Much like Larry chose to remove himself from the public stage, so, too can we stop using Google products.

I realize it's a bit more complicated than this, but I'm not fond of your take here.

I’m of the opinion they definitely misled everyone to get users. Hey look at this! It’s FREE! Gmail, maps, youtube, all free! Not once did anyone ever say free except you must surrender all of your inner secrets first

They told what you they were collecting. It wasn't "all of your inner secrets", but it turns out that it's enough to infer what those probably are.

I mean I don't think that was the idea back in 2003, maybe I'm naive.

IIRC, Google's respect for privacy only took a significant downturn only once Page left the company.

Page still runs the company. He and Sergey have unassailable voting power over the board. The lack of official title not withstanding, they are still in charge.

Most of the sources that made Google a privacy eating beast didn't came from Larry, they came from: The market, The intelligence agencies(probably), and by people's own indifference.

With all the respect to Larry and Sergey, i'm sure they could have done very little to stop those forces, and if they've tried, some other company would have become "Google".