Google’s European Chief: We Don’t Always Get It Right

It's funny to hear Google make this statement after all the years the company has spent fighting with the EU over this stuff.

He said that in countries like Germany, France or Spain, Google for too long has seemed “like a West coast-driven, liberal values thing.” “We don’t always get it right,” Brittin said. “As far as Europe is concerned: we get it. We understand that people here are not the same in their attitudes to everything as people in America.”

Click to expand...

Steve said:

It's funny to hear Google make this statement after all the years the company has spent fighting with the EU over this stuff.

Click to expand...

He said that in countries like Germany, France or Spain, Google for too long has seemed “like a West coast-driven, liberal values thing.” “We don’t always get it right,” Brittin said. “As far as Europe is concerned: we get it. We understand that people here are not the same in their attitudes to everything as people in America.”

Click to expand...

Too bad Google doesn't seem to be aware that America is not a uniform left-coast liberal values driven culture that will blindly follow Google like a horde of sheep.

mrpc9886 said:

Too bad Google doesn't seem to be aware that America is not a uniform left-coast liberal values driven culture that will blindly follow Google like a horde of sheep.

Click to expand...

What Google (and lots of other people) don't get is that this stuff really isn't aligned to a political party. That's a diversionary method to dodge aside from taking on the matter of them being stuck with their business model of making money through effectively monitoring and recording the activities of people using their products and services.

It was kinda funny that he mentioned privacy apps on Google Play since the mechanism for even downloading and installing apps (including privacy ones that are pretty ineffective anyhow) is tracked, logged, and later mined for value.

I think people in the US value their privacy every bit as much as their European counterparts, but US residents are much more powerless to do anything about Google.

Google is deeply embedded in the US government. They are the largest single company lobbyist by far. There are people with ties to the Google payroll at high levels in many government positions. And the US benefits from all of Google's data collection practices (Google's current business model was legalized by the patriot act, after all).

No, the US will not do anything about Google. It's up to Europe to keep them in check.

mrpc9886 said:

Too bad Google doesn't seem to be aware that America is not a uniform left-coast liberal values driven culture that will blindly follow Google like a horde of sheep.

Click to expand...

Yeah man they're just so stupid, you clearly know better