Google is accused of “stealing everything ever shared on the internet,” to fuel its AI, including copyrighted works and personal data. The case comes after a privacy policy update spotted by Gizmodo which says the company scrapes the web’s public information.
A 6-year-old, a best-selling author, and others accuse Google of stealing “everything ever shared on the internet" after Gizmodo noted a privacy policy change.
Google does not own the internet, it does not own our creative works, it does not own our expressions of our personhood, pictures of our families and children, or anything else simply because we share it online
And don’t use gmail, google calendar, sheets, docs, etc. In the context of Google, it doesn’t have to be publicly available online for Google to use it. Someone could keep their journal in sheets with no intent of it being public and Google is using the info.
That stuff exists online is not really a legitimate basis for copying it. Reading or other forms of consumption sure, but copying — no. The whole piracy debacle was centered around this.
Not posting stuff online isn't really an alternative either. Such a big part of our lives are digital these days. All the way from what news we consume to stay up to date in our everyday lives, how we discuss current topics such as this one, how we can stay connected to our friends, how we met potential partners and heck even how we watch porn.
Or how big part of these examples do you think people read actual newspapers, discuss and debate current topics offline, how many old friends from high school do we keep in touch without using social media, how many dates do we go on off dating apps or how many watch porn dvds do we pop on when the need arises?
When I post something online, say a trip report on my personal travel blog, does that mean I consent to ie Google using my intellectual property for training their LLM? My answer is a resounding no.
I'm not at all versed in IP law, but I can't fathom how using all available data online for development of a commercial product can be considered fair use of this data, or as really any other legal basis.