https://tutanota.com/blog/posts/google-analytics/
Google Analytics declared illegal in the EU.
The issue at hand is that due to the American CLOUD Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CLOUD_Act US authorities are able to demand personal data from Google, Facebook and other US providers, even when they are operating outside of the US, so in Europe for instance.
The decisive factor for the legal assessment of the use of Google Analytics is not whether a U.S. intelligence agency actually obtained the data or whether Google actually identified the user. The mere fact that this was theoretically possible already was a violation of the GDPR.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/15/google-underpayment-wages
Google employees and subcontracted workers are demanding that the company pay back wages to temporary workers, following a Guardian report that revealed Google had knowingly and illegally underpaid thousands of temps for years.
More than 140 workers have signed a petition addressed to Google executives calling on the company to “immediately pay back all Temps, Vendors and Contractors (TVCs) who have been knowingly underpaid by Google” and to “create an immediate path to permanent employment for temporary workers and end its two-tiered perma-temp system”.
“Google’s deliberate exploitation of TVCs is a massive moral failing,” the letter reads. “For much of Google’s workforce, ‘Don’t be evil’ is a smokescreen. It’s a way to reap the financial rewards of unquestioning public faith, by assuring investors, users and government entities that Google is trustworthy and friendly – while successfully underpaying and mistreating the majority of their workers.”
https://www.businessinsider.com/former-google-exec-launches-sourcepoint-with-10-million-series-a-funding-2015-6
A former Googler has declared war on ad blockers with a new startup
2015-06-18T11:00:00Z
Now one former Googler is fighting back against the blockers. Sourcepoint is launching Thursday with $10 million in Series A investment funding. The company's CEO and co-founder is Ben Barokas, the former general manager of marketplace development at Google. He moved to Google in 2011, when it acquired his online advertising optimization company Admeld for $400 million.
Companies That Publicly Opposed Voter Suppression Continue to Fund Voter Suppression Group
August 9th, 2021
At least seven companies that signed the statement also donated this year to the Republican State Leadership Committee (RLSC), the primary fundraising organization for state GOP candidates, which is advocating for voting restrictions. Biogen, Facebook, General Motors, Google, VMWare, and law firms Holland & Knight and the McGuireWoods political action committee all gave to the RSLC in 2021, according to recently released tax records covering the first six months of this year.
Google’s State Policy Manager, Joe Dooley, was listed as an attendee of the RSLC “election integrity” working group meeting. To be a member of the group, Alphabet subsidiary Google Energy, which produces and sells clean energy, gave $20,000 to the RSLC in February, preceded by Google Inc.’s $10,000 on Jan. 5.
[Big Tech Wages] War on Gadget Right-to-Repair Laws
Dozens of states have raised proposals to make it easier to fix devices for consumers and schools, but tech companies have worked to quash them.
Sometimes, though, Millman can’t fix them. It’s not that he’s technically incapable. It’s that the parts and schematics aren’t available, usually because device manufacturers, including the world’s richest companies—like Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google—don’t share them. Several students recently came to Millman with defective WiFi cards on their Chromebooks, laptops designed only to work when connected to the internet. That card widget “is not a particularly hard-to-find or expensive part,” Millman explained—but the laptop maker requires a specific version to be installed and Millman isn’t on the shortlist of approved repair providers. He counts 25 schools he works with facing an identical flaw. “And that’s just me,” he said.