...uh...got...to...get..away... but I can't.

If this was Slashdot, I'd have to talk about cars, but no, let's try something else.

I have some friends who refuse to get these grocery store bonus cards here...we have a few large chains who give out cards that you can use to get a few percent off of your groceries. The catch is, of course, that they track what you buy and use that to a) market directly to you b) see what sells and to whom. I know that, everybody I know knows that...yet, most of everybody has these cards. Except a few die-hard conspiracy theorists who value the privacy of their toilet paper brand identity more than discounts. It's a trade - information for discounts.

So I get 5 per cent off my grocery bill (this is hundreds per year with a family) and I get some spam in my mail from my grocery store. Spam which I don't open and throw away. It's a fair deal to me. In practice, I get a discount for telling my grocery store what brand of toilet paper I use. (it's the very soft one, triple-layered, mmm.) You probably would not get one of these cards since you cancelled your google account as well - fair enough, your grocery store will not know that you prefer the yellow, cheap brand. (too harsh, not for me.)

This is, to me, quite simply, what Google does. Google just does it on a larger scale collecting information on what I do online. To me, it's a fair trade, the services I get from them are -- to me -- amazingly useful. The net is much more useful to me with Google services than without them. So, I'm fine with the agreement I've clicked on.

Can we agree that I'm allowed to make my own choice or would you perhaps like to change the laws to deny me my possibility to agree to Google's terms? Don't disrespect people's intelligence - plenty of people do know, and the media let's them know, that Google mines data. Still, most people see it as a good trade.

Me, my bonus cards and google are just fine. Thanks.