How does it feel to be a product?

You are the product for The Google

http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2012/030212-backspin.html?page=1

A very disturbing article about "The Google" and how we are all products, without QR codes as of now, and our info is SOLD!

"If you're not paying for something, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold."

What The Google wants to do is slice and dice where you go, what you look for, what you look at, and what you consume so it can make your life better ... just kidding ... so it can make loads of money by helping other people sell to you more efficiently and more effectively.

By simply looking for anonymous searches that are related to influenza, The Google was able to predict flu outbreaks considerably earlier than health organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control have been able to.

For many people, the Google is their primary, if not their only, entry point into the Internet where, studies show, they are spending an increasing amount of time being entertained as well as buying and selling products of all kinds and researching everything from holidays to their medical conditions. 

The Google stands a good chance of knowing you better than your spouse does! Targeting ads will become better and better, response rates will improve, and no matter what The Google and other businesses say, your privacy will be up for sale not to the highest bidder but to any bidder. 

The problem for us ordinary mortals is that the corporate machines that we're dealing with and which provide us with all of these nice, cool, free services see us simply as product to be bought and sold, and our privacy as a mere and increasingly insignificant obstacle.

It's only a matter of time before we're all walking around with those increasingly ubiquitous QR codes tattooed on our bodies.

How does it feel to be a product?