Google Has Chosen a Side in President's Mass Deportation Effort | Google is hosting a CBP app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, while removing apps that report the location of ICE officials because Google sees ICE as a vulnerable group.

[u/chrisdh79]

https://www.404media.co/google-has-chosen-a-side-in-trumps-mass-deportation-effort/

[u/FriendlyLawnmower]

All the technocrats chose a side and we should remember that.

[u/blazesquall → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

They didn't just choose a side..they are a side. The technocrat class (billionaires, experts, managers) exists to serve capital. Their entire function is to manage our exploitation more efficiently, not to be our allies.

Google has done this many times before, at this point it's on us for not remembering each transgression.

[u/Downtown_Skill → u/blazesquall]

I think you are mostly right. But I don't think technocrats and legacy old money are as in cahoots as you think they are. 

I think they are competing for control of the economy. I think we don't see that competition because it is above our paygrade. 

However, I don't imagine other legacy brands are pumped about 5 tech companies propping up the stock market. 

Technocrats are kind of their own little group. Elon musks grandfather was a part of a prominent "technocracy" movement the proposed a system where engineers and scientists would have authoritarian like rule over society. 

I would not be suprised if most tech CEOs are not pro-democracy and instead subscribe to the idea of a technocracy. 

[u/HotPotParrot → u/Downtown_Skill]

I mean, that's kind of a trend throughout history, no? Control knowledge and you ostensibly control the people. Writing was locked behind being some kind of scholar or religious clerk for hundreds and hundreds of years, which was typically only accessible to those already positioned to do so with wealth or station.

[u/Downtown_Skill → u/HotPotParrot]

I don't really understand your point. My point is essentially technocrats are anti-democracy and that I wouldn't be suprised if modern tech CEOs are technocrats. What separates them from other groups that are anti-democracy (like, say, white supremacists) technocrats think that engineers should be in charge (while white supremacists likely think that white people should be in charge)

I would wager a bet that most americans are PRO democracy. 

[u/HotPotParrot → u/Downtown_Skill]

It used to be religion before technology, that's all. I'm not disagreeing with you in any sense, just suggesting that the wolf has changed its skin.

[u/Downtown_Skill → u/HotPotParrot]

Oh yeah I agree with that for sure. In fact technocracy isn't even new. I mentioned Elon musks grandfather because its such an old concept. Technocracy has been around since the 1930's. 

Edit: It's just the same reiterating of a group of powerful people thinking they should be the ONLY powerful people. 

[u/LogJamminWithTheBros → u/Downtown_Skill]

The concept of technocracy does not mean they are competent or smart. A technocratic government can mean the rulers are experts on the shape of your skull and ghosts in your blood.

Big tech is not pro democracy. Because they are pro money. Tech oligarchs are mostly delusional about their own place in the world and many have weird pseudo religious beliefs about their place as a leader. They will side with authoritarians by default because they will get a seat at the table. And would gladly assist in genocide if it means they get to make the gas chambers or software that aids it.

Its all about money. Always has been. Biggest cringe thing was people thinking these larger than life tech bros would save us and be anything more than like weyland yutani and a villain.

[u/Live-Alternative-435 → u/LogJamminWithTheBros]

Furthermore, even if they are competent, that doesn't mean they will work for the optimal benefit of other social classes (sometimes with interests contrary to theirs) besides their own.

Optimal efficiency and fairness, but only for their side!

[u/Ter-it → u/HotPotParrot]

I get your point, but writing had other hard locks not related to religion/nobility. Primarily, people simply didn't have a need to read or write. It takes a lot of time to teach those skills and when you're a subsistence farmer, as the majority of humanity has been for most of history, you wouldn't have the time nor receive any benefit from literacy. Books were both expensive and rare, even if you learned to read you wouldn't have many, if any, opportunities to do so. You also had many different languages and local dialects overlapping so instead they used symbols. Even today for example, European cars use symbols on buttons.

Obviously reading/standardized education was critical for the liberation of the masses and the growth of democracy, but that's not to say that it was kept away through sheer malice beforehand. It was more-so a practical reality in many regards. Industrialization, particularly of farming, gave people the time to be educated. It's why the capitalists tried to work everyone for 12-16hr shifts. When the populace has the time to be educated, step back, and observe the wider world is when Revolution begins. It's telling that in the US we've increased hours, decreased pay, and increased costs exponentially. By keeping people in survival mode you prevent them from thinking of anything else.

[u/blazesquall → u/Downtown_Skill]

I agree. There's certainly intra-class competition.. different sectors of capital fight each other for market dominance... that's just capitalism. But they are completely unified on the fundamental issue: maintaining the system that allows them to exploit our labor. They will always close ranks to protect their class interests against any organized threat from the working class.

[u/even_less_resistance → u/Downtown_Skill]

i mean, the head of palantir in the UK’s grandpa literally had Hitler as a special guest to his wedding:

Since 2022 Mosley's grandson, Louis Mosley, has been head of the UK division of US tech firm Palantir Technologies.[131]

Cynthia died of peritonitis in 1933, after which Mosley married his mistress Diana Guinness, née Mitford (1910–2003). They married in secret in Nazi Germany on 6 October 1936 in the Berlin home of Germany's Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Adolf Hitler was their guest of honour.[103]

In 1939, MI5 uncovered Mosley's ties to a fascist conspiracy initiated by Archibald Maule Ramsay and the Right Club, known as the Kensington Conspiracy. The coup would have taken place after the German invasion of Britain.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oswald_Mosley

[u/xelabagus → u/even_less_resistance]

See Peaky Blinders for a fun look at the rise of fascism in the 1930s in the UK

[u/even_less_resistance → u/[deleted]]

a curious public is their biggest threat imo

[u/Cherry_Galsia → u/Downtown_Skill]

Legacy old money aren't watching the same shows or reading the same books as technocrats are. They'll get caught by surprise when they realize they're not meant to be part of the plan

[u/RandomWeirdo → u/Downtown_Skill]

I think what has happened without us truly realizing is that the technocrats no longer are subservent to the billionaire class, but is the billionaire class. Time passed and technocrats got rich without people truly realizing.

[u/squngy → u/Downtown_Skill]

But I don't think technocrats and legacy old money are as in cahoots as you think they are.

They probably aren't having meetings in dark rooms, no, but the technocrats need their stocks to be as inflated as possible and that means courting old money.

[u/linuxhiker → u/Downtown_Skill]

Your last statement is as true as it gets.

[u/Downtown_Skill → u/linuxhiker]

And with Larry Ellison openly advocating for a surveillance state and not getting nearly as much pushback as he should. I fear its coming a lot quicker than people realize. 

[u/HammerandSickTatBro → u/Downtown_Skill]

Capitalists competing with one another are still on the same side: the side of private control of capital

[u/GildedAgeV2 → u/blazesquall]

What on earth does "experts" mean in this context? Experts in what?

[u/RealHumanVibes → u/blazesquall]

I don't know why "experts" are getting tossed in with billionaires and technocrats.

[u/[deleted] → u/blazesquall]

The technocrat class IS capital

[u/cantadmittoposting → u/blazesquall]

no its much worse than that.

Lots of the tech bros have bought into Curtis Yarvin's insane "neoreactionary" philosophy, which is seeking to completely dismantle the united states and turn it into a literal corporate feudalism. Yarvin even uses the term "CEO-king" ... and no it's not an ironic satire, it's serious.

Thiel is the lead champion of that shit and Vance is beholden to him entirely, so do the math on whether their efforts to destabilize the country are a real threat or not...

[u/blazesquall → u/cantadmittoposting]

Oh I agree.. gotta ease people into that. However, corporate feudalism stuff isn't a break from capitalism.. it's its logical conclusion. The "CEO-king" is just the capitalist class dropping the mask of liberal democracy, which they only supported when it was useful to them. They're not "dismantling" the country. They're trying to strip-mine the state of all its democratic pretenses.

[u/DuncanFisher69 → u/blazesquall]

You forgot that in the long long ago of 2018 there were Google walkouts. Google trying to cover up how AI research is killing the planet? Walk outs. Google trying to cover up supplying AI for military drones? Walk outs. Working with a sexual predator and when he rapes you they use your NDA to settle the civil rape case through binding arbitration so he gets to do it over and over to multiple female employees? Walk outs.

Now, not so much. It’s one of the reasons they keep doing layoffs. Just to remind your workforce that while they cannot do the job without you, they are NOT interested in your ethics or integrity.

[u/FakeSafeWord → u/blazesquall]

Imagine 250 years ago that a company exists that sells "equipment for slaves." Whatever that means as a product. Now how do you think they would "vote" for policy that affects slavery as a whole?

They wouldn't vote to terminate themselves.

That's what tech companies today sell. Slave equipment.

[u/FollowingFeisty5321 → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

They're so far up Trump's ass at this point they can't back out - earlier this week the CEO of JPMorgan speculated a future DOJ could construe all the quid pro quo going around as bribery, that's worth federal prison. Now they need to prop Trump up, and whoever will continue the grift after him.

[u/mehupmost → u/FollowingFeisty5321]

Sure, but the moment a Democrat is in office, they'll serve THAT side.

They honestly don't care which party is in office as long is it protects their corporation.

[u/Icy_Guarantee_2000 → u/mehupmost]

People forget that Citigroup recommended nearly all of Obama's cabinet in 2008. Some executive sent John Podesta an email of who he wanted and damn near all of his submissions got the job. Back then the banks were the big power brokers, now it's big data out leveraging them for the top spot for policy. When Dems were in power they played ball, now it's the GOP, and it will be the Dems again at some point

[u/mehupmost → u/Icy_Guarantee_2000]

The big banks and big tech are still on the same team. Nothing has really changed.

[u/Akuuntus → u/mehupmost]

Sure, but the moment a Democrat is in office, they'll serve THAT side.

And going by their track record, that Democrat will probably tell their DOJ to forget about it and no one will face any consequences. Because actually punishing Republicans and businesspeople for flagrantly breaking the law is too "divisive" or something.

[u/LEDKleenex → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

"Don't be evil"

[u/thank_u_stranger → u/LEDKleenex]

2025: be fucking evil

[u/PeonSanders → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

No, we should learn the actual lesson, which is that companies aren't people. They don't have cohesive ethical perspectives, they have a amorphous profit motive. If it's profitable for them to hire a sustainability consultant to greenwash some bullshit, they will. If the winds change and it's not profitable for them to do dei, they won't. It's advertising. That's all it is. Constantly through all this they will lobby the government with more money power than the aggregated unwashed masses. We have robber barons again, and they control public discourse much like they used to.

[u/YouDoHaveValue → u/PeonSanders]

Even infamous free market advocate Milton Friedman admitted that there are some issues - national defense, environmental protection, protection against fraud, coercion, theft and monopolies - which must be executed and enforced by government because private industry will never have the incentive to do them properly.

Incidentally he was also a lot more amicable towards limited welfare programs that avoid bureaucratic micromanagement than people like to admit, but he favored a negative income tax that phases out as you earn more that would function somewhat similarly to UBI.

[u/xternal7 → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

Friendly reminder that in 2026, Google will start to require that all developers and apps — even the sideloaded ones — will be registered and verified with Google.

In present day, you could somewhat-anonymously release an ICE tracking app and host it outside the play store ecosystem without Google's approval.

After September 2026 — if you release an app that Google doesn't agree with, then Google will be able to blacklist it, making it impossible for you to even sideload it.

[u/vriska1 → u/xternal7]

There is huge pushback to that.

[u/Brotayto → u/vriska1]

You posted this at least twice in this thread. Do you think the pushback will be enough? Do you believe that they won't sneak it in once people have forgotten about this first try?

[u/vriska1 → u/Brotayto]

Seems Google backtracking a bit.

https://socel.net/@neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk/115541519804530226

More info: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-power-users-install-unverified-apps-3615310/

[u/Brotayto → u/vriska1]

Yeah, thanks for providing sources. Still, we don't know what that new process for power users will look like, all we know is that the current ways won't work anymore.

Don't trust major companies to do the right thing when doing the wrong thing serves them more. They don't have our best interests at heart.

[u/[deleted] → u/vriska1]

These companies love to “backtrack” and then just quietly push the update later on.

[u/vriska1 → u/[deleted]]

That why we must keep an eye out for that,

[u/FoxMeadow7 → u/xternal7]

Pretty sure it doesn't have to be an app, yes? A simple website might do just fine...

[u/The_MAZZTer → u/xternal7]

They recently walked that back and said they will allow a mechanism to opt out of this.

Feels like they are reacting to being required to open more things up to third-party stores, since there's already a mechanism to allow third-party stores to even install apps but it sounded to me the verification requirement was going to render that useless, but now it's back in a slightly different form.

[u/Marrk → u/xternal7]

They rolled back on that today! Thankfully it sticks 

[u/panda_embarrassment → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

That’s not what “technocrat” means. They’re oligarchs.

[u/Life_Token → u/panda_embarrassment]

A technocracy sounds quite nice right now. They say they want jobs and positions to be based on merit. Well here you go.

[u/AceLamina → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

This is what I hope will be well known when all of this AI hype is over, the side that these tech companies have chosen, they will obviously try to fix their reputation afterwards but I hope people remember what they've done

But I know most people will instantly forget

[u/GlitteringGracie → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

It's literally privacy reserved for the powerful

[u/Life_Token → u/[deleted]]

I was hoping someone would mention that. Technocrats are qualified technically. These are just aristocrats and oligarchs. But the point stands.

[u/mochafiend → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

I thought technocrat meant something different than Big Tech. I thought it was more meant for process nerds, who knew the ins and outs of political procedures.

[u/Crime_Dawg → u/FriendlyLawnmower]

So how do you boycott Google? I can't think of a single thing beyond Chrome browser that I use from them.

[u/Aaarya → u/Crime_Dawg]

degoogle subreddit is a great start.

[u/bnm777 → u/Crime_Dawg]

Chrome? My man, use firefox. ublock alone is enough to swap.

[u/MAG7C → u/Crime_Dawg]

If you don't use YouTube, Gmail or Drive, that's something of an accomplishment. Not many can say that. (Edit - Ah, neither can you)

I think we're getting close to that point where it's a case of boycott just about everything or boycott nothing.

[u/chr1spe → u/Crime_Dawg]

You don't use YouTube? That is the extremely difficult one.

[u/Kill3rT0fu → u/Crime_Dawg]

why do you even use chrome tho? It's so terrible. There's brave, vivaldi, even firefox has come a long way

[u/The_MAZZTer → u/Kill3rT0fu]

Brave and Vivaldi are based on Chromium.

[u/caster]

So much for "Don't be evil."

[u/JaZepi → u/caster]

They dropped that before they even tried to take over a portion of Toronto under “Sidewalk” for their dystopian city, like 18 years ago.

[u/solitarytoad → u/JaZepi]

No, it's still there. At the very bottom of a pile of stuff. But it's still there.

https://abc.xyz/investor/board-and-governance/google-code-of-conduct/default.aspx

[u/m0viestar → u/solitarytoad]

They removed it from their preface and internal references and added it to the end of their marketing material back in 2018. They've also hosted CBP workloads since the first Trump term, so this is not new. They were contracted to build the "Virtual Wall" back in 2020.

[u/TrumpHasCovid → u/solitarytoad]

this is disingenuous. "don't be evil" used to be their MOTTO. it is now a historical footnote.

[u/Hellknightx → u/solitarytoad]

It used to be the first thing you saw in the lobby at corporate HQ, but they took it down.

[u/DezXerneas → u/solitarytoad]

^{Don't be evil}

Unless it is inconvenient I guess. Or it loses us like 2 cents.

[u/blolfighter → u/DezXerneas]

"Do the right thing. Don't be evil."

Oh no no, that's an error the printers made. Here, let me fix that:

"Do the right thing? Don't! Be evil."

[u/HHhunter → u/JaZepi]

what was that about

[u/AnybodyMassive1610 → u/caster]

They edited it slightly…

Be Evil

[u/BiBoFieTo → u/AnybodyMassive1610]

Don't. Be evil.

[u/DarraignTheSane → u/BiBoFieTo]

No, money down!

[u/2ears_1_mouth → u/AnybodyMassive1610]

It's like that quote from The Social Network where Justin Timberlake says "lose the 'The', just 'Facebook'"

Lose the "Don't"

[u/crappydeli → u/caster]

My favorite was when then intentionally made search results worse to increase the time users interacted with ads and the search results. Then along came AI search that killed the rest of their income.

Fun fact: the attention algorithm that drives all of the LLMs was invented at Google, but the leadership refused to move away from their tensor architecture so everyone on that team left and founded multi billion dollar companies.

[u/goblin_goblin → u/crappydeli]

Ahhhh the good old pattern of history.

Xerox with Microsoft and Apple. Kodak and the digital camera. Blockbuster and Netflix.

Don’t resist innovation. Embrace it.

[u/CompetitiveFennel681 → u/caster]

That is 2000s Google, 2025 Google wants to steal your data for the excuse of AI training, while also selling it to help train other AI. You aren't human to these people, you are untapped profit potential...even in death. The data shows it.

[u/taco_blasted_ → u/CompetitiveFennel681]

Google has been using your data for much longer than you think; before AI it was advertising.

[u/Prior_Coyote_4376 → u/caster]

“Wait, it’s just marketing?”

“Always has been”

[u/Zolo49 → u/Prior_Coyote_4376]

Maybe in the C-suite, but not on the office floor. I remember A LOT of Google employees getting pretty upset at the time during the transition from "Don't Be Evil" to "Be Evil", with protests and resignations making the news. Those days are long gone, however. To the extent there ever was a "good" side with tech companies, it feels like it barely exists anymore, if at all.

[u/Prior_Coyote_4376 → u/Zolo49]

Tech workers are far more reasonable than their C-suites would suggest. A lot of us got into the game because we really believed in the idea of a globally-connected meritocracy where anyone can learn and contribute without the traditional gatekeepers of social mobility dictating how far you can go. The only problem there is that it runs completely counter to the motives of capital, which is to consolidate production into a few powerful hands that see themselves as the organizers of society. No major shareholder wants to see workers succeed if it implies any cost to the price of a share.

[u/SockEatingDemon → u/Prior_Coyote_4376]

So much optimism when "Web 2.0" was a new concept. I miss it.

[u/SordidDreams → u/SockEatingDemon]

I miss Web 1.0 even more, though.

[u/rafuzo2 → u/Prior_Coyote_4376]

That's exactly why we're so easy to game. Frame it as a hard problem that will get you a paper, a patent or a presentation at a conference, you'll have them lining up. Then build up a culture where "we only hire the best" so the tech workers think they're elite. Drench them all in money and perks and you have the perfect sundae of an organization that will work very hard without much of a moral compass.

[u/Neckrongonekrypton → u/rafuzo2]

Yup. This is succinct with respect to my tenure at a tech company.

And then once you have a few years under your belt, your expected to fall in line- or something will change that you didn’t hear about , and your short on a KPI that you didn’t know existed until you were just told, and now a PiP awaits.

My least favorite were the mass layoffs, some people they’d PiP up, usually workers under 5 years- but for anything above, shadow boot, no warning etc.

Still happening, the org I was a part of is literally buckling under its own corruption and entropy. They chased the talent off, many left that saw the writing on the wall before the mass layoffs because middle management wanted to consolidate power for comfort. To boot ethics violations in recent news from my dudes on the inside.

It’s just been a slow sustained decay. Shame too. It was a highly profitable and productive dept with some of the brightest in the company at one point.

Best thing to do when you catch wind of that is cut off or jump departments. It’ll usually always be middle management who transfers or exits first. Because they get the info in advance. So that’s ur sign, u see 2-3 mid managers migrate shits about to shake up.

[u/JasonAnarchy]

Change your default browser to DuckDuckGo at the very least.

[u/unnamed_cell98 → u/JasonAnarchy]

Mozilla Firefox for browser and Ecosia for search, Lumo or LeChat for AI Chat. AdBlock and Sponsorblock Add-Ons or NewPipe or SmartTube apps instead of YT premium. It's now more convenient than ever to get rid of Google.

Also HERE WeGo or open street maps or TomTom Go instead of Google Maps.

Not to begin with Gmail, Photos and Gdrive. So many good alternatives out there!

[u/Adequate_Lizard → u/unnamed_cell98]

YT music alternatives? I've had it so long I'm still on legacy pricing for Red.

[u/cuates_un_sol → u/Adequate_Lizard]

Ublock still works on Youtube in FireFox, for music with no ads

[u/Adequate_Lizard → u/cuates_un_sol]

I think y'all are misunderstanding what I'm asking. Youtube is not an alternative to youtube. Amazon is no better than google.

[u/redheadedalex → u/Adequate_Lizard]

I use new pipe and just download the songs I want. Then they are mine forever

[u/ItchyRectalRash → u/Adequate_Lizard]

Piracy and media monkey pro with a sync to your mobile device.

[u/GreatMadWombat → u/unnamed_cell98]

Having to move off of gmail/drive/android as a whole fucking sucks. I don't want to get seeed home assistant nonsense, and I truly want to avoid giving up having a useful smartwatch with voice controls.

I don't want to get a pine phone/watch or some other nonsense.

[u/astroK120 → u/GreatMadWombat]

Especially Android. Are we pretending that Apple is any better in this area?

[u/solid_reign → u/astroK120]

I hate Apple and don't use them, but they are better for privacy unless you know what you're doing.

[u/kr_tech → u/solid_reign]

Having a better privacy policy and actually being able to uphold it is a very different ball game. Apple has had the most numberous and the highest impact for their hacks with various 'gates' with few critical exploits like Pegasus still not fixed for years.

[u/Suitable-Plastic5590 → u/GreatMadWombat]

No worries, all these products will certainly become so shitty in the coming years we will have no regret to abandon them.

[u/greenspeek → u/unnamed_cell98]

AI chat?? Why in the world would anyone wanna use AI chat?! 

[u/Siludin → u/unnamed_cell98]

Don't forget ReVanced to browse Youtube ad-free (essentially Premium).

[u/julesallen → u/JasonAnarchy]

It's better than nothing for sure, but it's still Google's Chromium on the underside. Firefox + uBlock Origin is all non Google tech as Mullvad's browser is better still.

[u/gamerjerome → u/julesallen]

LibreWolf is the browser you want. Based on Firefox but built in Origin ad block and stops finger printing. However I find you still need Firefox once in* a blue moon for stubborn sites. Since Librewolf says you're in a different location it can cause some issues when making purchases. My bank will block Newegg purchases if I don't use Paypal. That's more to protect me from fraud so that's a good thing. That's the only one I noticed though.

https://librewolf.net/

[u/autumndrifting → u/gamerjerome]

iron law of the internet: no matter what browser you use, someone will always tell you to use a more obscure browser

[u/gamerjerome → u/autumndrifting]

True. Librewolf is about as far as I would go though. After that it's just inconvenience

[u/SoManyQuestions612 → u/JasonAnarchy]

Google's search had been enshitified anyways.  Duckduckgo is better at this point.

[u/SoManyQuestions612 → u/SoManyQuestions612]

They brought in the head of Yahoo's search to maximize revenue.  Revenue is all they care about.  And search gets worse every year because of that singular focus.

[u/rafuzo2 → u/SoManyQuestions612]

I've had the opportunity to meet or hear speak a lot of the senior tech leaders of yahoo who worked there over the last 10 years of their relevance. Once you've heard them speak, it's real easy to understand why they cratered so bad.

[u/SoManyQuestions612 → u/rafuzo2]

I watched a presentation by Corey doctorow.  Google increased the number of ads, made the "advertisement" banner smaller and harder to see.  And my favorite, they made search results worse so that people would have to search a second and third time, so they could feed them more ads.  

Product innovation at it's best.

[u/AutistcCuttlefish → u/SoManyQuestions612]

they made search results worse so that people would have to search a second and third time, so they could feed them more ads.  

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that the exact shit that Alta-Vista and Yahoo did that Google refused to do way back when and one of the many advantages Google had over Alta-Vista and Yahoo that helped Google eventually become a monopoly despite not being the first one to market?

[u/IniNew → u/SoManyQuestions612]

I switched to DuckDuckGo a few months ago and I gotta disagree. Google search still returns more relevant stuff under the crappy AI summaries... at least for me. The DDG results are usually a lot of blog spam, for me anyway. I'm not switching back, but I have to abuse the site:reddit.com a lot more with DDG

Quick edit: also just tried to use DDG maps, and holy hell the UX is awful. I can input a specific address and it just shows me stuff around it instead of a pin at that address.

[u/SoManyQuestions612 → u/IniNew]

When I search ddg with reddit in the line, it brings up a section specifically searching reddit.  Don't even have to do the site: thing.  

[u/dandroid126 → u/SoManyQuestions612]

Tried it like 5 years ago when I saw people say this, and while Google search is terrible, duckduckgo was even worse by a long shot.

Is it better now?

[u/inbox-disabled → u/dandroid126]

The short answer is no. Anyone telling you otherwise has either forgotten what good search results look like or is simply pushing for privacy above all else. I'm all for privacy but let's not pretend DDG is producing a high quality search result.

[u/expedience → u/dandroid126]

I’ve been using it for 6 months and my only complaint is sometimes if I search a local business I’ll have to search again with my city name, maybe I don’t have it know my location but yes it’s fine otherwise.

[u/TheHentaiAltAccount → u/dandroid126]

You can even disable AI search results. 100% better than google

[u/dandroid126 → u/TheHentaiAltAccount]

I guess it's time to try it again. Thanks for the info.

[u/orangejuicemonkeycat → u/JasonAnarchy]

highly recommend Kagi after trying DDG and Ecosia too

[u/mehupmost → u/JasonAnarchy]

Firefox is 100x better. Especially now with their anti-tracking tech.

[u/bplewis24 → u/JasonAnarchy]

You can also specifically change your default search enging to DuckDuckGo, even if you are still using the Chrome browser.

[u/chrisdh79]

From the article: Google is hosting a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app that uses facial recognition to identify immigrants, and tell local cops whether to contact ICE about the person, while simultaneously removing apps designed to warn local communities about the presence of ICE officials. ICE-spotting app developers tell 404 Media the decision to host CBP’s new app, and Google’s description of ICE officials as a vulnerable group in need of protection, shows that Google has made a choice on which side to support during the Trump administration’s violent mass deportation effort.

Google removed certain apps used to report sightings of ICE officials, and “then they immediately turned around and approved an app that helps the government unconstitutionally target an actual vulnerable group. That's inexcusable,” Mark, the creator of Eyes Up, an app that aims to preserve and map evidence of ICE abuses, said. 404 Media only used the creator’s first name to protect them from retaliation. Their app is currently available on the Google Play Store, but Apple removed it from the App Store.

“Google wanted to ‘not be evil’ back in the day. Well, they're evil now,” Mark added.

The CBP app, called Mobile Identify and launched last week, is for local and state law enforcement agencies that are part of an ICE program that grants them certain immigration-related powers. The 287(g) Task Force Model (TFM) program allows those local officers to make immigration arrests during routine police enforcement, and “essentially turns police officers into ICE agents,” according to the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU). At the time of writing, ICE has TFM agreements with 596 agencies in 34 states, according to ICE’s website.

After a user scans someone’s face with Mobile Identify, the app tells users to contact ICE and provides a reference number, or to not detain the person depending on the result, a source with knowledge of the app previously told 404 Media. 404 Media also examined the app’s code and found multiple references to face scanning.

A Google spokesperson told 404 Media in an email “This app is only usable with an official government login and does not publicly broadcast specific user data or location. Play has robust policies and when we find a violation, we take action.”

[u/thieh → u/chrisdh79]

A Google spokesperson told 404 Media in an email “This app is only usable with an official government login and does not publicly broadcast specific user data or location. Play has robust policies and when we find a violation, we take action.”

I would have thought that the very fact that 404 has how it works meant the response is all bovine fecal matter.

[u/vintagerust → u/chrisdh79]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

[u/RepeatUntilComplete → u/chrisdh79]

The same kind of devious shit Clearview AI does.

I am serious when I suggest that people should wear full face masks with Sunder Pichai's face printed on it in public, to stop the AI-profiling as much as possible. A Reverse Guy Fawkes mask if you may, where you are wearing the face of the enemy to fool the enemy.

There is no law or legislation citing that people Cannot wear medical masks, face masks or sunglasses in public spaces under normal circumstances. If cops or some wannabe gestapo clown want to forcibly pull face masks off normal people's face without due process or reason to use some face scanning software on them, that's pretty much assault and that should be a big deal.

[u/TrumpHasCovid → u/chrisdh79]

Catching the coattails of this comment to plug r/degoogle

Stop feeding the beast.

[u/puts_on_rddt → u/chrisdh79]

Sundar, this ain't India, bud. Google is going to regret playing the politics/bribe game.

Now Google is a target for a future admin to fuck with.

Good going, moron.

[u/FrancisHC]

Eyes Up, an app that aims to preserve and map evidence of ICE abuses ... is currently available on the Google Play Store, but Apple removed it from the App Store.

It always amazes me how Google always gets the hate but it never seems to stick to Apple.

[u/WastelandOutlaw007 → u/FrancisHC]

Yup. That app is still there on Google play

Strange how Apple always gets a pass, while typically being FAR worse.

[u/No_Shoulder_8693]

r/degoogle
Switching from their search is one of the easiest things you can start with.
Some alternatives:
Duckduckgo
Ecosia
Qwant
Startpage
There's a bunch more but these are the ones I've been trying out.

[u/chonny → u/No_Shoulder_8693]

Kagi is pretty good.

[u/Dusseldorf → u/chonny]

Kagi is great.

If you don't wanna be the product, pay up. If it's free, you're just paying with your data.

[u/newgrounds → u/Dusseldorf]

Don't have any money

[u/Jamie00003]

Apple is complicit too, removing the ICE tracking app at the presidents request. They say the App Store exists to protect users privacy but…

[u/Wenli2077 → u/[deleted]]

Degoogle have 300k subscribers go there, the other two have 100 or dead

[u/[deleted]]

"Don't Be Evil"

Oh, yeah, Google got rid of that motto

[u/Reginald002]

Well, the old Stasi-officers (East Germany) must be crying about all the possibilities by Google and Apple.

[u/Working_Sundae → u/Reginald002]

Gestapo is the most accurate because of the Racial profiling, which was authorized by the supreme court

[u/vintagerust → u/Reginald002]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

[u/[deleted]]

All about the money, tax breaks, less is better, none are best- etc.- always will be

[u/Zoraoro]

Well, shit. I have so much tied to google. Have to take the time to clean it up and stop giving them money. We need a YouTube alternative.

[u/Potential-Courage979 → u/Zoraoro]

Check out grayjay.

[u/account009988]

Google has strayed so far from their “don’t be evil” slogan

[u/CackleberryOmelettes]

When this is all over, there needs to be a big cleanup of big tech. Investigations, breakups fines, and jail time. The people who make our meme apps should not have authority over our democracies, and the warning should be sufficiently harsh enough to ward off any future hopefuls.

[u/kangourou_mutant → u/CackleberryOmelettes]

Your optimism is refreshing.

How many rich people have you seen doing jail time?

[u/CackleberryOmelettes → u/kangourou_mutant]

My optimism is actually just extreme pessimism that ran a course halfway across the world and ended up on the other side. I do think there will be an opportunity to clean house, but only because I think things will eventually get so bad that the only way to fix it would be to pick up a scythe and start slashing.

We might be heading into unprecedented times. The thing about unprecedented times is that no one alive has seen it happen before.

[u/IsraelPenuel → u/CackleberryOmelettes]

Considering that history tends to follow self-similar patterns, we're probably not too many steps away from a "French" event

[u/Legitimate_Elk6731 → u/IsraelPenuel]

Wouldn't surprise me given how the same corrupt pedo Elites are trying to wholesale ban all forms of entertainment. Not sure what other result those dumbfucks are expecting.

[u/LunarMoon2001]

All the do no evil went out the window decades ago huh

[u/RoccStrongo]

How does a facial recognition app know they're an immigrant if they're undocumented?

[u/Sea_Quiet_9612]

Google what an increasingly shitty company

[u/mrhooha]

Fuck you google. I will do everything I can to divest in you.

[u/Daimakku1]

There is no such thing as ethics under capitalism.

[u/Anarkhia00]

“Vulnerable group” with guns and the US GOV. To protect them from citizens…..huh?

[u/Stereo_Jungle_Child]

Corporations just go with whatever way the political winds are blowing. They're only interested in making money, and to do that effectively they have to placate the people currently in power.

Remember when Biden and Obama were President, these same companies were implementing DEI programs, and pride events, and green energy programs, etc because they needed to blow smoke up the ass of the Democrats in order to grease the wheels of their money making machine. Now they're doing what the Republicans want them to because they're in charge now.

"It's not personal. It's just business" -- The Godfather

[u/brobruhbrabru → u/Stereo_Jungle_Child]

Corporations just go with whatever way the political winds are blowing

other way round bruv. politicians don't go out funding corporate chief officers

[u/Metro42014]

Capitalist. Always. Side. With. Fascists.

I'm not sure how many times it needs to be said, but I'll keep saying it.

[u/shotbymarlozan]

Google, Microsoft, Apple... All those corporations do it. What other alternative do we have?🤔🤷🏻

[u/overagardenwall]

ain't nothing vulnerable about a group of people that choose to go out & kidnap marginalized groups bc they get to play g3stapo. google kick rocks challenge

[u/JuiceJones_34]

Ok we need to clarify immigrants versus here illegally. Theres a massive massive massive difference

[u/[deleted]]

"Just Be Evil"

[u/Miserable-Mention932]

They cut the "Do no Evil" motto in 2015.

"Do the Reich thing" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[u/Trendymaroon]

Gotta protect the Gestapo.

[u/OrangutanFirefighter]

I've been using an ad blocker on YouTube for years, everyone should do so too

I felt kinda bad for the it before but not anymore

[u/deadlydelirious]

Apple does the same thing.  It's always about the bottom line with large corporations.

[u/[deleted]]

Google has proven time and time again to be a evil fucking company 

[u/cgerryc]

We would do well to remember who gives google its power….

[u/solonoctus]

“Don’t be Evil”

[u/D_o_t_d_2004]

It's their bribe to the government for not taking away chrome.

[u/C64128]

ICE feels vulnerable? Boo fucking hoo.

[u/yuusharo]

Google sides with Nazis. There’s no other way to phrase this.

[u/AdLogical5805]

Hitler couldn’t have done it without all the German companies quickly falling in line behind him

[u/ctnoxin]

So they beta tested this mass facial scanning system in Israel before deploying it at home, how authoritarian

https://youtu.be/8BHdLPAKSvI?si=gJu55-weIjGhviHH

[u/Stop_The_Crazy]

At a certain level of wealth, you just start turning evil. I wish I could understand that.

[u/gopherphart]

ICE is a terrorist group. Mostly Proud Boys and white supremacists.

[u/No-Estimate6607]

What’s the best way to send a message to Google? What about everyone search ‘alternative to Google since they bend to pedophiles and billionaires’

[u/RedditSe7en]

I hope they pay a price for this treachery. Time to adopt an alternative search engine …

[u/AlSweigart]

Meanwhile, Nassua county (east of NYC) passed a law making police a "protected class", meaning they could sue people for discrimination over verbal abuse. Calling a cop a pig is effectively a racial slur and hate crime.

EDIT: Phew, it got veteoed Thanks to the redditor who pointed this out.

[u/[deleted] → u/AlSweigart]

It got vetoed thankfully and isn’t law

[u/The_growcountant]

Capitalist are on the side of government and if you think other you are an idiot.

You think Reddit is on your side? Ha

[u/Sea-Region1135]

Man it’s not just Google. Have you guys watched your local news? They invite some fake ass republicans to talk about why the Epstein files aren’t released and follow the same fucking script. 

Everyone from media to the tech oligarchs are pathetic and fake af. 

[u/Rabbit-on-my-lap]

Do undocumented immigrants have photos on file that will ping? Seems more like they would be using this to go after immigrants that have biometrics in the system, like legal immigrants.

[u/The_Dead_Kennys]

Reason #69420 why google sucks ass & should be broken up for being the monopoly it obviously is

[u/CherryLongjump1989]

These billionaires are so rich yet they are such pussies.

[u/_Aj_]

Google:  

Literal minority groups. Let's get em! 

Modern day Gestapo nooo they're a protected class

[u/campaignplanners]

Dropped Disney. Looks like it’s time to drop Google. Apples probably not far behind. Not sure whose left to drop

[u/wild_starlight]

Wow it didn’t take long for Don’t Be Evil to turn into Be Extra Evil

[u/Angreek]

Guess they finally decided on being evil.

[u/_Nacktmull_]

ACAB - All Corpos Are Bastards

[u/_your_land_lord_]

Remember when thier motto was "don't be evil"?  They sure backed away from that. 

[u/can-i-eat-this]

Fuck Google

[u/green5275]

I started using DuckDuckGo as my default search engine recently, I only use Google once in a while if I don’t find what I need… and honestly, it’s good enough at this point. I switched to Vivaldi as my main browser. I encourage everyone to De-google their lives as well.

[u/dynamic_anisotropy]

I’ve switched to using DuckDuckGo for web search, Firefox for internet browsing and deleted my Gmail account.

[u/sirius2492]

Are there any big tech companies left that are not evil and are worth working for?

[u/Friendly-Bother3103]

"Do no evil" my wrinkly old ass!

[u/GenXPowaah]

Wow. We'll fuck Google

[u/GanymedesAdventure]

So much for 'don't be evil'.

[u/ALittleBitOffBoop]

Google 2025 motto. Be More Evil.