Google this! 'Privacy does not exist…'

Maybe the sequel to Robert Fulghum's famous book "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" should be titled "All I Really Don't Want You to Know (About Me), You Learned on Google."

It's kind of scary just how powerful the world's most powerful 'search engine" company has gotten. Certainly, when a company's name becomes a verb, you know they are cutting a pretty wide swath through the planetary zeitgeist. However, it's not how conscious we are of Google that worries me, but how conscious Google is of us.

The latest chapter in the "Google Takes Over the World" scenario was uploaded last week. Turns out the Internet giant wants to know not just all about your past, but about your present too -in particular where you are at this very moment (Can you find me now?). Their new Latitude service allows users who have smart phones or computers to share their location with friends and family, using a kind of triangulation system that mimics GPS.

Of course, if the information is shared only with family and friends of your choosing, what's the problem, right? Could actually help to rescue you if you get stuck in a snowbank between home and your favorite ski hill (Thank you, Google!).

But on the other hand, it doesn't take long to see how even legitimate uses could result in a dangerous loss of privacy. Bosses who are paying for cell phones for their employees will no doubt think it just and appropriate to use the technology to find out whether you are on a sales call or at the corner bakery noshing on a bagel and sipping your latte. Maybe it even is just, but is it appropriate?

Then there's the case of the wife whose husband installs the Latitude software on her cell phone -let's say for entirely innocent reasons, because, for instance, he is concerned about her well-being in the event she is the victim of a carjacking. Let's furthermore say that he even told his wife about the software to reassure her.

But then let's suppose that a few months go by and the marriage is on the rocks. Let's imagine that the wife has a boyfriend, and the abused husband has a bad temper. Let's imagine that the husband is consumed by jealousy and uses the Latitude software to track down his Mrs. and her paramour. Let's suppose he has a gun… (Damn you, Google!).

And these are of course just examples of how the software can cause problems if the information stays only in the hands of those for whom it was intended. But who is to say that some nerdy hacker won't be able to penetrate the program's security and be able to track the whereabouts of any participating cell phone anywhere?

So maybe Google is entirely well-intentioned in offering this service, but maybe they are not. They say they will not release the information to anyone except the intended parties, but people say things all the time. Probably those companies in China said they would not put toxic chemicals in pet food and baby food, but they did it anyway. Sometimes the temptations of power and money are too big for ordinary mortals to resist.

Google, however, may not worry about rules that apply to mere mortals.

After all, this is the company that wants to digitize every book ever written, that provides satellite imaging of your backyard pool (no more skinny dipping!) to the world via the Internet, and that declared in its response to a lawsuit recently that "complete privacy does not exist" (Um, obviously they are right, but should they be bragging about it?)

I know, I know… Technology is cool, and fear of technology is paranoid Luddite thinking that will make you look bad to your teenage children. But…

Don't say I didn't warn you.

n Frank Miele is managing editor of the Daily Inter Lake and writes a weekly column. E-mail responses may be sent to edit@dailyinterlake.com