Orkut, Google and Privacy

Grok Headline matches for Orkut, Google and Privacy

Orkut members launch Orkut Paranoia
community about Orkut TOS on Orkut

Orkut members launch Orkut Paranoia
community about Orkut TOS on Orkut 02/10/2004 10:42 PM
Geez. My head is spinning. Anyway, BoingBoing reader Adam fields points us to a new "Orkut community" (one of many online affinity groups within the social networking service), called "Orkut Paranoia" (link requires free membership). Adam says, "This formed out of some interesting discussion we've had about what's going on... summarized in this blog post:"

1) Orkut claims irrevocable unlimited license rights to everything you post. Most people don't understand what that means. One example of this is that many of my friends have posted pictures that I've taken. This is probably not a problem, generally, but they've granted Orkut a license to use them without consulting me, and created a legal tangle should I have a problem with that, forcing me to have to perform a legal struggle with Orkut, because of their unwitting actions. I think this is rude behavior on the part of Orkut, but their prerogative to demand.
2) Orkut may share personal information with Google in an unrestricted way. Google is unwilling (so far) to discuss what use they may make of that information.
3) Google's privacy policy possibly has some holes in it with regards to data collected by way of means other than use of the google.com website.

I suspect that Orkut is a way for Google to gather personal information about their clientele for marketing purposes, and to try to form a more solid relationship beyond "I just use Google for search because it's convenient". This is not terribly nefarious, but the kind of data that could be collected to do so has wide potential for abuse, and people should be aware that that's what's going on. Some may not care, but many people I know are signing up without reading or understanding the implications of the above three points.

Link

Why Google needs Orkut

Why Google needs Orkut 02/10/2004 02:49 AM
In all the discussion of Orkut I've seen so far, most folks are busy comparing Orkut to every other social networking web site around, typically they mention Friendster ("it's so much faster!"), but as we all know these sites are a dime a dozen these days. At least it seems that way. What surprises me is that nobody has looked at it the other way around: What problems might Orkut solve that Google would otherwise find significantly more challenging? Those...

Did Google Steal Orkut Code?

Did Google Steal Orkut Code? 06/30/2004 07:13 PM
Search Engine Lowdown Jun 30 2004 11:01PM GMT

Google Seeks New Friends With Orkut

Google Seeks New Friends With Orkut 01/25/2004 09:48 PM
High Search Engine Ranking Jan 26 2004 1:16AM GMT

Orkut.com, affiliated with Google,
launches.

Orkut.com, affiliated with Google,
launches. 01/22/2004 10:58 PM
Yet another social networking site launches: Orkut.com. All I know about it is that supercool BoingBoing buddy Justin Hall is a member, the site was launched "in association with Google", it includes a friend rating system (ascribe degrees of various attributes to your Orkutsters -- coolness, h4wtness, whatever), and it's asking me to invite all of my friends. (loud retching sounds)

Orkut - Google Social Networking

Orkut - Google Social Networking 01/23/2004 02:22 PM
Google (kinda) Offers Social Networking called Orkut
Acording to this CNET artice, Orkut is the outgrowth of a personal project by Google Engineers Orkut Buyukkokten. He created "Orkut.com in the past several months by working on it about one day a week--an amount that Google asks all of its engineers to devote to personal projects". And oh, by the way:

"Membership to orkut is by invitation only.
If you have a friend who's a member of orkut, have them invite you to join."

Google Social Network: Orkut

Google Social Network: Orkut 01/23/2004 04:12 PM

Company Claims Orkut Stole Orkut Code

Company Claims Orkut Stole Orkut Code 06/30/2004 07:19 PM
It's not like it's particularly difficult to write a social networking systems. These days, at the rate new ones are coming out, it practically seems like a typical first year CS student's project. Still, a company named Affinity Engines that builds social networking products for universities (that just so happens to have been founded by Orkut Buyukkokten - the creator of orkut.com) is now suing Google for stealing their code. From the article, it sounds like they have a pretty solid claim. First, it's obvious that Orkut had access to the code. He even continued to work on it while he was at Google. According to the lawsuit he promised repeatedly that he wasn't going to work on a similar app for Google, but then did so anyway. The real damaging point, however, is that Affinity Engines claims they've found nine identical bugs in Orkut that are also in their own system -- which certainly makes it quite likely the basic code is the same.

Company says Google copied code for
Orkut

Company says Google copied code for
Orkut 07/02/2004 06:26 AM
SiliconValley.com Jul 2 2004 10:10AM GMT

Google Says Sued Over Orkut Code
(Reuters)

Google Says Sued Over Orkut Code
(Reuters) 06/30/2004 10:29 PM
Reuters - Google Inc. said late on Wednesday that it has been sued by Affinity Engines, which alleges that Google's Orkut social networking site is built with code stolen from its company.

Google eyes social networking with Orkut

Google eyes social networking with Orkut 01/23/2004 07:38 PM
Google is edging into the social networking space popularized by Friendster, launching on Thursday a networking site created by one of its engineers. ...

Google sued over Orkut bug replication
feature

Google sued over Orkut bug replication
feature 07/02/2004 06:16 PM
Your bugs are our IP

Google Launches Orkut to combat
Friendster

Google Launches Orkut to combat
Friendster 01/24/2004 03:30 AM
I4U Jan 24 2004 8:10AM GMT

Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut Code

Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut Code 06/30/2004 12:56 PM
Wired News Jun 30 2004 5:38PM GMT

Google debuts Friendster-clone Orkut

Google debuts Friendster-clone Orkut 01/22/2004 11:04 PM
Exclusive Will you be my friend?

Affinity Engines Says Google Stole Orkut
Code

Affinity Engines Says Google Stole Orkut
Code 06/30/2004 02:51 PM

"Google Releases Orkut Social Networking
Service"

"Google Releases Orkut Social Networking
Service" 01/24/2004 02:52 PM

Google Releases Orkut Social Networking
Service

Google Releases Orkut Social Networking
Service 01/23/2004 02:22 PM
Google employee releases social networking service .. orkut, google's social networking app .. released to the public .. Search Engine Watch .. invite only

searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3302741
track this site | 9 links

Orkut.com Social Networking Engine in
Affiliation with Google

Orkut.com Social Networking Engine in
Affiliation with Google 01/23/2004 02:26 PM
"The move comes in the wake of rumors that Google wanted to buy social networking service Friendster last year and just a day after Eurekster launched, a social network service that refines search results."

Google Hacked? Orkut Personal Info Leaks
Onto Web

Google Hacked? Orkut Personal Info Leaks
Onto Web 05/04/2004 07:39 PM
You are who you link too. Googles social network leaks personal friends network data.

Google sued over alleged Orkut code
theft

Google sued over alleged Orkut code
theft 07/01/2004 12:31 AM
Social networking software company Affinity Engines is suing Google, accusing them of stealing code which is used in their orkut.com social-networking venture. Google denies the allegations, but will the suit harm them as they prepare for their IPO?

Google Sends Cease-And-Desist To Orkut
Geomapper Site

Google Sends Cease-And-Desist To Orkut
Geomapper Site 05/19/2004 12:15 AM
Search Engine Lowdown May 19 2004 4:28AM GMT

Affinity Engines Files Suit Against
Google Over Orkut Code

Affinity Engines Files Suit Against
Google Over Orkut Code 06/30/2004 02:31 PM
"A small social networking software company filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming that much of the source code behind Orkut.com...was stolen by a former engineer. "

Wired News: Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut
Code

Wired News: Lawsuit: Google Stole Orkut
Code 07/01/2004 07:08 AM
suing Google for stealing their code .. Did Orkut steal the code for Orkut .. Wired

wired.com/news/business/0,1367,64046,00.html
track this site | 5 links

/articleshow/760677.cms">Google
accused of stealing Orkut code

/articleshow/760677.cms">Google
accused of stealing Orkut code 07/02/2004 04:53 AM
Economictimes.indiatimes.com - Fri Jul 2, 06:52 am GMT

Orkut

Orkut 02/10/2004 02:53 AM
Well, this thing seems to be taking off. Nat threw in the first invite, so I signed up, and another half-dozen or so folks have fired off invites. This is another one of those networking site things, and I've decided that while I'll go accept invites from anyone I know (I really need to get a picture up--I'd throw the rainbow parrot pic I use for iChat, but the TOS seem to indicate that'd be ill-advised) I don't think I'm going to go to much trouble to actively go search people out. These things are always interesting to look at,...

The sayings of Chairman Schmidt:

Eric Schmidt of Google on Orkut and
other topics at Berkeley

The sayings of Chairman Schmidt:

Eric Schmidt of Google on Orkut and
other topics at Berkeley 03/06/2004 01:57 AM
The highlight of today's UC Berkeley CSEE department Research Symposium, at least in entertainment value, was the keynote speech by Eric Schmidt of Google (Berkeley CS M.S. and Ph.D.). He gave a very intelligent and witty speech, much too long to reproduce here. He talked about the changes over the last 30 years in technology and in the information industry, about Google business, logistical and technology challenges, and he told a lot of funny stories. A few tidbits: My policy for Google execs: for sixty minutes a day, they are required to be offline. From every piece of data on the growth of the Internet that Google sees, we don't see anything slowing down. The information industry is booming. Google cares a lot about power and temperature. Google servers use more than 10 megawatts of power. Fires are a big problem. Sometimes I think that Google's fundamental mission is to move air from one server rack to another server rack. Running a data center is a lousy business. Every data center we have been in has gone bankrupt. Google's architectural problems are power, especially provisioning it, aggregating the data, since we have thousands of copies of the Internet, and scale problems. The speed of light is a problem. If you can solve a real end user problem, you are guaranteed to be a big success. There is a very interesting collision between the law and the Internet coming [he gave an example of kids buying prescription drugs over the net]. I know that the blogosphere is currently obsessed with Orkut, so I thought it would be worth reproducing to the best of my ability his response to a question about Orkut and its Terms of Service. Orkut is an experiment by a 28 year old man named Orkut looking for a social life. My engineers are obsessed with it -- I don't see what it has to offer a married man in his 40's like me. [I feel the same way]. It is unlikely that we will use that information. We need some information to connect people. Someone asked specifically about the provision in the Orkut TOS, By submitting, posting or displaying any Materials on or through the orkut.com service, you automatically grant to us a worldwide, non-exclusive, sublicenseable, transferable, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right to copy, distribute, create derivative works of, publicly perform and display such Materials. Schmidt said: The...

Is Google Invading Your Privacy?

Is Google Invading Your Privacy? 02/26/2003 05:44 PM
Representatives of a Web site called Google Watch sent him an e-mail complaining about privacy infringements by none other than the Web's most popular search ...

Google values its own privacy. How does
it value yours?

Google values its own privacy. How does
it value yours? 04/13/2004 06:24 PM
The Register Apr 13 2004 11:20PM GMT

Google Ignores Privacy Concerns

Google Ignores Privacy Concerns 02/18/2003 07:56 AM
This entry in the Google Weblog points to this list of privacy problems. These concerns are not new. The lack of response from Google about this issue is disappointing but somewhat expected. My concern is mostly with the potential for future data-mining. How can this be thwarted?

Google Gmail Privacy Issues

Google Gmail Privacy Issues 06/01/2004 06:37 PM
Search Engine Positioning and Web Marketing weblog,CA-10 hours agoGoogle Gmail has a new page with a rather large analysis on the privacy issues that have been raised ever since Gmail was announced two months ago. ...

Google-Mail privacy concerns

Google-Mail privacy concerns 04/24/2004 07:56 PM
p2pnet.net Apr 25 2004 0:42AM GMT

Why Google is Trading Privacy for Cash

Why Google is Trading Privacy for Cash 12/05/2003 07:47 PM
Even its previous purchase of self-blogging tools provider Blogger shows that Google is willing to pursue new features, as investment bankers now pursue Google ...

Google IPO puts privacy under spotlight

Google IPO puts privacy under spotlight 05/05/2004 06:31 PM
Yahoo! May 5 2004 10:49PM GMT

the old #1 google result for
"orkut"

the old #1 google result for
"orkut" 01/23/2004 07:36 PM
i'm surprised google's basically funding this guy making a name for himself in the social networking space

Google email criticised over privacy
fears

Google email criticised over privacy
fears 04/13/2004 06:24 PM
Electronic Telegraph Apr 13 2004 11:15PM GMT

Google Responds To Gmail Privacy Issues

Google Responds To Gmail Privacy Issues 05/29/2004 09:06 PM
Search Engine Lowdown May 30 2004 1:08AM GMT

New Google email service said to be
invasion of privacy

New Google email service said to be
invasion of privacy 04/18/2004 09:47 AM
Ethical Corporation Online Apr 18 2004 2:12PM GMT

Google under closer privacy scrutiny
post-IPO

Google under closer privacy scrutiny
post-IPO 05/05/2004 12:51 PM
Boston Globe May 5 2004 5:08PM GMT
Grok Description matches for Orkut, Google and Privacy
GrokA matches for Orkut, Google and Privacy

Orkut, Google and Privacy

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