No. Not at all. In fact, it’s foolish to think anything on the internet is 100% foolproof or safe. Even Google, with their vast amount of resources and money, is liable to a hacking every once in a while. The fact that Russian criminals may have gotten their hands on your personal information/emails should scare you. While Google isn’t victim to very many data breaches, it’s naïve to think they can’t get hacked. It seems like hackers are always one step ahead of security experts. If North Korea can hack into Sony Pictures, surely someone can hack into Google. No company or individual person is ever safe from hacking. In an article from The Guardian, Google itself is quoted as saying their search engine can be dangerous. The company admitted it is a “partially dangerous” website in which “some pages contain deceptive content right now. Some pages install malware on visitors’ computers.” Even Google knows they aren’t fully safe. While it’s easy to appreciate their honesty on the subject, it’s also a very sobering moment to hear one of the world’s most powerful companies say they are vulnerable to breaches.
So we’ve established that your information from Google can be vulnerable to foreign government hacking. The next question is “do the companies Google sells your information to also vulnerable to hacking?” As you can imagine, the answer is a resounding yes. Take a look at this handy chart, courtesy of Information is Beautiful. Every bubble represents a database hack that affects greater than 30,000 users. It’s not a stretch to think that Google has sold information to every single one of those companies: Ebay, the state of Texas, JP Morgan Chase, and many more. It’s also not a stretch to think that your information is less safe with these companies than with Google simply because Google has more infrastructure to keep your information safe. To keep yourself as safe as possible, it’s best to use alternative search engines that don’t track you or sell any of your information to anyone.
Works Cited
Dailymail.com, Ellie Zolfagharifard “Has YOUR Account Been Hacked? Hundreds of Millions of Passwords Stolen from Google and Yahoo Users in Major Security Breach.” Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 06 May 2016. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
Dredge, Stuart. “Google.com Is a ‘partially Dangerous’ Website – according to Google.” The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 20 Apr. 2016. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
World’s Biggest Data Breaches & Hacks — Information Is Beautiful.” Information Is Beautiful. Information Is Beautiful, 5 Jan. 2017. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.
For Sale by Google 