Data is money.
Data is what funds Google. We freely use Google’s services, but for so many of us, never really think, “Why is this free?”
Normally, free stuff is like health food. It’s not really that good.
Google’s tools are good, because there’s money in it.
Google uses all that data to sell the most effective ads in the world. Ad dollars equals money. Your data, makes them money. It’s really quite brilliant. So, when Google came on the mobile market scene with the Android, it was a natural step in their business strategy.
This seems to be working just fine, but a few other tech companies have taken this model one step further. Instead of using the data for themselves, they’re selling it, and this makes some users very nervous.
TomTom has told their customers that they’re sorry. They sold the user data from their personal navigation device to the police. I have a feeling they could have sold it to just about anyone else, and it wouldn’t have caused such a riff. There’s something very shady about selling TomTom user data to the police, of course, it makes me wonder about the police department, too.
This is how the story goes. TomTom had a weak first quarter earnings, so they decided they would boost their earnings by selling traffic data to governments. How do you set-up that sales pitch, anyway?
Later, a Dutch newspaper exposed that Dutch police purchased some of the data and then proceeded to set target specific speed traps. I guess everyone got all bent out of shape. They are the ones speeding, so I fail to feel their pain. It does push the question about data privacy and government monitoring. No one wants to be China.
When TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn said they had the best of intentions and believed they could quote:
… make roads safer and less congested.
I think what they meant to say was:
Money money money, safer roads, money.
But, I don’t know Dutch very well.
[via Gear Live]
Speak your mind...