Google Web Accelerator

[dirtyboy]

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2858

Google claims it magically speeds up your Internet connection, and for the average user, it does. This is done by caching entire websites on Google's servers, passing copies of any page a user visits and sending them to Google HQ. Basically they're just creating carbon copies of everything you read, every site you visit, every image you load, and storing them on their servers, under the idea that you will have a faster connection to their servers than you would to whatever website you're visiting.

Well here's the problem, folks: everything you view is now owned by Google. Do you read email? Well now Google reads your email, and now the entire world can read your email. Do you use private messages through a website? Well they aren't private any more; now anybody using Google's Web Accelerator can read them. Every single page you read, every single website you visit, every single cookie you use, every single thing you do on the Internet is now owned by Google and is viewable to anybody using their program. I hope you're completely comfortable with the entire world being able to see every single webpage you read and every single website you visit, because thanks to Google, it's now happening. Check out their privacy policy if you don't believe me.

Bottom line is if you use this product everything that you see in your web browser and your cookies will be made available to the public. Don't use this product if you value your privacy. Private Messages and web mail will not be private anymore.

I may be looking at a way to block this feature from this forum in the future.

[MotorEd]

for Google!

....and for Dirtyboy!

[Dobi]

http://www.somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=2858


I may be looking at a way to block this feature from this forum in the future.

What are your thoughts on using Firefox instead of internet explorer? I have it on my home computer and find it is a fair amount faster than my work station.

[dirtyboy]

I use Firefox almost exclusively. I do extra work to ensure that the web site and forum works correctly with Firefox. Firefox shows html errors and IE covers them up. Interesting eh? Clearly 25% of my web traffic comes from Firefox. I guess I'm on here too much

But Google Web Accelerator can be used with Firefox as far as I know so the thing is to avoid the Web Accelerator. I was looking at my hotmail just a while ago and thought to myself, "Self, I'm glad all my forum passwords (stored in hotmail) aren't being cached by Google. I wonder what those poor saps that use the Web Accelerator feel like when they find out their passwords are on display for anyone to find."

[Dobi]

I use Firefox almost exclusively. I do extra work to ensure that the web site and forum works correctly with Firefox. Firefox shows html errors and IE covers them up. Interesting eh? Clearly 25% of my web traffic comes from Firefox. I guess I'm on here too much

But Google Web Accelerator can be used with Firefox as far as I know so the thing is to avoid the Web Accelerator. I was looking at my hotmail just a while ago and thought to myself, "Self, I'm glad all my forum passwords (stored in hotmail) aren't being cached by Google. I wonder what those poor saps that use the Web Accelerator feel like when they find out their passwords are on display for anyone to find."

Thanks for looking out for us Dirtboy