Google’s opened up its Google Now digital assistant to 40 third party apps, including Pandora, Lyft, TripAdvisor, eBay and RunKeeper.
No longer will we be forced to do the onerous labor of engaging finger muscles to poke at such apps to get our personal data packaged up and presented.
Instead, key information from such apps will pop up in Google Now at the right time without our having to remember to open them.
But wait, there’s more: Google’s Aparna Chennapragada said in a blog post that additional apps are going to be integrated in the future:
Starting today, the Google app on Android can help you keep up with all the good stuff in 40 different apps at a glance. It’ll bring you Now cards to help you out with your day-to-day life, giving you information that’s helpful to you, right when you need it.
Google’s site shows sample cards, such as an AirBnB card showing rentals similar to searches made on the service:
… a Strava card that shows your weekly total run distance:
… or a picture of a Zillow property listing that matches a previously saved search:
Google’s going to roll out all sorts of cards like this over the next few weeks, including cards from The Guardian that let you catch up on news of the day, Pandora recommendations for music based on what you like, a reminder to complete your daily French lesson on Duolingo, a grocery reorder list from Instacart, or a card to order a Lyft from whatever airport you’ve landed in.
Of course, given that Google Now runs on your sweet, sweet location data, that “whatever” airport is the specific airport you find yourself trying to get a lift, or a Lyft, from.
Are you the kind of person who’s a bit creeped out by all this?
By “all this,” we’re talking about more or less having your mind read.
Your location known and logged down to the most granular level so that your walking/running/biking distances can be crunched.
Your flights tracked.
Your shopping habits analysed (to the extent that if you walk into a mall, it’ll tell you what stores are available, and if you’ve recently researched a product, it’ll even tell you if you’re near a store that carries it).
Your network-connected TV detected and your viewing habits listened to.
If you are, in fact, creeped out by any of those data pieces being collated and crunched by the Googleplex data munching machine, well, Google Now is probably a Google Noooooooo! for you.
Do you consider the prospect fun or frightful? Let us know in the comments section below!
Image of Google courtesy of Chukcha / Shutterstock.com.
Pete
I think, like a lot of people, I’ve avoided using Google Now or similar services because of the potential of the data being misused. The confirmations of this misuse in 2013 by certain folks in Cheltenham, etc have not encouraged me to try it! Pity, as I can see it being quite a useful thing but Google and other companies harvesting this sort of data need to do more to protect it from getting into the wrong hands. And by wrong hands I mean anybody that the user has not explicitly and individually given permission to.
JR
Stop using Google, install pop-up, ad blocking, and privacy plugins.
Jomarati
As a friend of mine stated: Not many individual persons buy something from Google, yet they are one of the richest companies nowadays as is Facebook….If you don’t buy anything from a company and yet it is very rich, then you’re the product”. Google found the holy grail of marketing because we all (few exceptions) give away our personal information willingly. Let’s hope they stay on ‘the good side’ of the spectrum. I’m pretty sure some governments are willing to pay large sums (or force companies) to get information that leads to the arrest (or worse) of their opponents.
Bart
I will definitely draw the line at having the RFID chip implanted that my sources tell me is in the planning stage.
James
The line between what Google thinks you want and what Google wants you to think keeps getting thinner and thinner.
Silent majority
Assuming Google Now is the “speak to search” function on my new tablet, am I supplying Google with “voice samples” that they might try to use in their own data agglomeration – or worse still hand over to NSA/GCHQ?
Renée
If the though that Google is capable of tracking your every move, to learn the way you think and behave, and pretty much have an extremely accurate profile on you does not creeps you out or makes you want to hide under a rock, then you might as well go out naked. It is concerning that all the new technology they sell to “make your life easier” is actually for them to collect information on you and sale it or who knows what else they might do with it. Just be aware that once your info is on their databases, it is there forever.
Voice of Reason
I think all of you are wearing your tinfoil hats too tightly and it’s cutting off the blood flow to your brains.
Dawn
Google’s next great idea: a telescreen in every home and thought police to watch your every move. Perhaps the only thing 1984 got wrong, was the title of the book.
Mike.
As with all things Google, turn it off, don’t let the ******ds have any of your personal info, they’ll find someone to sell it to and GCHQ will probably try to pinch it. Google your friendly evil organisation.