don’t be evil

Google Will Stop Data-Mining Student E-Mail Accounts

Google Will Stop Data-Mining Student E-Mail Accounts

Did you have a high school or college e-mail account administered by your school? Whatever, Grandma: lately, many schools have migrated to using Google Apps for Education, which provides mail and a suite of other Google services to educators and students for free. Free, really? Surely there must be a catch. Say, that Google was indexing students’ messages in order to serve up more relevant ads to them elsewhere on the Internet. [More]

Google Deletes Last 7 Years Of User's Digital Life, Shrugs

Google Deletes Last 7 Years Of User's Digital Life, Shrugs

Something happened to Dylan’s Google account, and it’s been disabled. He doesn’t know what happened to the account, and no one at Google with the power to help him is interested in acknowledging the problem or letting him back in to the cloud-based services where all of his correspondence and much of the digital trail from the last few years of his life is stored. Google doesn’t own Twitter, though (yet), and he has taken to Twitter to try to draw attention to his problem and urge anyone who will listen not to trust Google with their digital lives. [More]

The 8 Least Evil Banks In America

The 8 Least Evil Banks In America

Banks that aren’t evil? Really? CNN Money rounded up eight American banks that might not be consumer paradises, but offer free checking, no ATM fees, and comparatively high interest rates for savings accounts. [More]

Google Bans Scammy Advertisers From Network

Google Bans Scammy Advertisers From Network

At last, someone has taken a stand against the tooth whitener ad menace. It’s no tiny or obscure ad network: it’s Google. The company has decided to live up to its “don’t be evil” motto and ban advertisers who place ads that lead to sites peddling products like scammy free trials, get-rich-quick schemes, and malware. Previously, they would ban individual ads, but not advertisers. This was akin to playing a massive game of whack-a-mole with thousands of identical “local moms” who had identified the secret to weight loss. Or tooth whitening. Or stretch marks. Or…

Top 10 Best and Worst Reputations In Corporate America

Top 10 Best and Worst Reputations In Corporate America

The results of the Harris Interactive survey that tracks the reputations of the 60 most visible companies in America has been released and here they are: Google is tops and Halliburton is not. Not shocking, but there are some interesting findings. Honda is the only car company to make the top 10, and Comcast, Sprint and Northwest Airlines are the least well-regarded in their respective industries.