RANT: SAURON’S EYE GOES DIGITAL #2

 

WHEN I DO a blog post, I like to add photos or doodles or whatnot to complement or underscore some point I’m making and to provide the reader with a bit of eye-candy, or simply to break up longer pieces with relevant illustrations. I use Google’s handy-dandy “Blogger” service*, “an online content management system founded in 1999 which enables its users to write blogs with time-stamped entries.” When I click the Blogger icon that says: “Insert Images”, a drop-down menu gives me the option to upload the image from my computer or from elsewhere. Clicking “From my Computer”, a pop-up window appears telling me to “Browse” my computer for the pics I want. Easy-peasy. I click “browse”, choose my pics and bingo! they're uploaded to my blog.

A FEW DAYS AGO, while I was adding images to a blog post, a second pop-up window displayed, requiring an additional step (and click!) in the uploading process. Now, this new pop-up appears when I click Blogger’s “Insert Images” icon. It says: “Allow Google Access to Your Necessary Cookies.” I have two options: Either click “Learn More” or “Allow Cookies”. The Learn More page states: “If a pop-up appears asking you to allow google.com to use cookies, click Accept and Allow. Doing so will grant Google access to essential cookies that are required to display your files properly.” So, I click Allow Cookies, having no choice in the matter. Next, the original pop-up window displays, prompting me to browse photos from my computer. I click Browse, and choose the pic to upload.

I know, I know. Super boring. So-what-who-cares? I guess I do. A little. THIS IS ANOTHER layer of surveillance Google is adding to track and monitor on-line activity. Using “cookies”, this second pop-up allows the digital giant to hoover-up user information to feed into its data banks, this time concerning the images and vids you want to upload. I can download pics to my computer but if I want to upload any, I'm obligated to go through an additional step or ‘filter’. Anything on my computer that I want to upload, any pic or drawing, is now scrutinized by Google’s AI software. And that data is used..how? And by whom? [SIUYA. Ed.]

I DON’T KNOW if this is a thing for everyone, or whether I’m ‘targeted’ in some manner because of the sensitive topic (Gazan conflict) I was blogging about and using pics to illustrate. We shall see, but why do I feel the censor’s chain tugging ever-so-slightly in the background? Don't you feel it, too?

 

Cheers, Jake.

______________________________________

 

 P.S. Thankfully, I can still upload these pics!

 

 

* "Blogger" is a free service provided by Google for over two decades, Ask yourself why it's free and what does Google get in return? (A: Shitloads of user data  worth millions!)

 

 

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE! FREE JULIAN ASSANGE!