Trusting Google (Premium)

My relationship with Google is complicated. And the key issue, as you might imagine, is trust.

Make no mistake, I do trust Google, and I believe that millions of other people---probably billions---do so as well.

We trust Google to accurately guide us home in the most efficient manner possible with Maps. To deliver the most accurate and comprehensive Internet search results. And to protect us against spam with Gmail.

But we also trust that Google will routinely violate our privacy, often in ways about which it is not explicit. That it will silently track our movements and activities, both online and in the real world. That it is creating a secret treasure trove of data designed more to give it an advantage over its advertising competitors than to improve its users' lives.

That many are quite willing to trade privacy and personal data for the functionality that Google's offerings provide is an understatement. Over two billion people use Android devices and at least 8 Google services now have over one billion users each across web and mobile. Even iPhone/iOS and Windows users trust Google to some degree.

And I am among that audience.

I use Google Chrome more than any other application on my Windows PCs, and as my primary interface to the web across both mobile and desktop. I use a Google phone running a Google platform and many Google apps and services. I've adopted Google Assistant and Google Home for smart home control. And use Google's Chromecast for whole-house audio. Google has, effectively, replaced Apple for much of our entertainment/consumption needs. And has replaced Microsoft for much of our productivity needs as well. And this usage is growing over time.

And while this will be obvious to readers, I will also just highlight that I'm no typical consumer. I don't just accept defaults, and I care very deeply about the hardware, software, and services solutions that I use. I deliberate and debate everything. Google is winning because Google's offerings, generally speaking, are better. And they are better even within the context of this trust issue.

And I do trust Google. And yet I do not trust Google as well. It's a paradox.

Thinking back to my Microsoft experiences over the years, I recall a similar period of unease. During Microsoft's U.S. antitrust trial, I was riveted by the testimonies from the firm's own executives as well as from those of its competitors. The picture that emerged was decidedly negative, and disturbing. And I walked away from the trial convinced that this software giant must be broken up, scattered to the wind, to protect the industry and its millions of users from what was clearly a culture of abuse.

I had a hard time rectifying my support for Microsoft and its products and its rapacious, predatory behavior. But what I eventually realized was that I didn't support Microsoft, didn't even have to like the company. Instead, my role was to support the many millions of people who used it...