I’m a startup CTO in Silicon Valley. At least that’s what LinkedIn and the Curious.com About page says.
I’m supposed to be worried about security and privacy, and for our users, I am. But for myself, I gotta say, it’s awfully cozy living with your head nestled in the warm, loving, all-knowing sand.
I just got a refurbished Nexus 5 for free from Google because my last screen cracked. I already have “love feelings” for Google over the free replacement phone and, shockingly, how easy it was to get someone on the phone and get them to send me a new phone. But it only gets better.
I pulled my SIM card out of the old phone, then slid it into the new phone. A couple swipes later, I was asked a question similar to “Do you want to let your future drone overlords know more about you than you know about yourself and use that information to make as much money off you as they can?”
Sand, head. Head, Sand.
“Yes.”
And just like that, my new phone was set up with my email addresses, calendars, photos, settings, etc. Right now, it’s downloading all of my apps again.
Seamless, slick, simple, scary. And done.
Should I be worried that Google has my whole life? Probably. How can I sleep at night knowing that I’m giving up my privacy for unnecessary conveniences? Very well, thank you very much. At least until Google Now decides to wake me up.
Like I said, I’m a bad, bad, bad person.