Google Flu Trends aggregates anonymous search queries to predict flu outbreaks two weeks earlier than the CDC. Identity-theft expert Robert Siciliano warns that even aggregated data sets a precedent for surveillance and could be sold to marketers targeting sick regions, though he sees potential benefits if Google acts responsibly.
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Well, have you got the flu? Well, you don't, you just have a little cold.
Just a little cold.
But Google is now working with the government to track who's sick and where they're sick, and they're doing it, by the way, in real time. The latest on this brand new high-tech program and why critics say it could be an invasion of your privacy on the other side of a break.
I always feel like somebody's watching me, and I have no privacy.
Yeah, we're in Studio N because Google is giving a shot in the arm now to efforts to Google is trying to fight the flu. The internet giant is tracking the number of times users search keywords associated with the disease. Single searches mean nothing, but millions add up to a pattern that could signal an outbreak, and then those results are shared with the Centers for Disease Control. David Lee Miller here in studio and following this story for us. David.
Tracy, we've all heard about computers getting a virus. Now at last it appears your computer might help you to avoid a virus, specifically the flu.
The flu.
The folks at Google, as Trace just mentioned, the internet search engine used by millions, have identified certain keywords associated with people trying to learn more about influenza. Google and the Centers for Disease Control, which documents flu outbreaks, then compared records and discovered a direct correlation between the Google searches and outbreaks of the flu. But not only did Google mirror the CDC's own data, it predicted flu trends up to 2 weeks before the conventional methods used by government researchers. The reason the CDC relies on hospital and other records that are compiled only after someone seeks treatment. Google, meanwhile, registers data at the click of a mouse. According to the CDC, the health benefits to the Google Flu Tracker could be significant.
I think anytime we can get information to the public faster and quicker about influenza, the better. They can make better decisions about getting vaccine, better decisions about whether they need treatment or not, or better decisions about avoiding other people if they have the flu.
Now, while some of this might sound like Big Brother peering over your medical concerns, privacy experts and the CDC CDC say not to worry. Google is not tracking individual computer users, but rather data from large geographic areas. It then analyzes results and provides a multi-tier scale ranging from minimal to intense. And the service, well, it can be found at the company's nonprofit site, which is google.org/FluTrends. And Trace, it's interesting that this technology theoretically now can be applied not only to flu,— but to other health concerns as well down the future and possibly even save lives.
Fascinating. David Lee, live for us in Studio N. As David Lee said, sometimes you feel like the government is looking over your shoulder. Maybe you shouldn't be concerned, but the question is, is there a privacy concern with this? David Lee says his sources say no. We want to go now to Robert Siciliano. He is an internet security analyst and CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com. Uh, Robert, I'm not sure if you just heard what David Lee said, but he says that he's been told that it's not an invasion Privacy. Do you buy that?
Well, you know, this is a great tool, but the reality of it is it's another example of Google getting into bed with the feds. And where are they going to stop? Are they going to resource other types of information when somebody is accessing— I don't know, could be anything. So it's something that we need to monitor.
Yeah, and the really— the whole thing is we're talking about in collecting collection of intelligence or collective intelligence trends here. And if it's, if it's the flu now, Robert, what's next? I mean, you figure out ways to market to people who are hitting these certain, certain regions and certain buttons on their, on their computer. I mean, where does this thing end?
Well, Google's already doing that, and they're selling that information to sales and marketing, to marketers. Right. That being said, Consumers need to realize that whatever they type into a search engine, you gotta know that somewhere along the line somebody's paying attention to it, and they pretty much know who you are.
I mean, you can make a lot of money. Let's say that there's an outbreak in New Jersey, right, and you sell flu remedies, and Google notifies you, and you're a marketer, and you say, "Hey, by the way, New Jersey's got an outbreak of flu," because they're just nailing on this thing left and right, then you— I guess you focus your advertising on the areas where there is flu. So there's a lot of money to be made with this information really kind of peeking into people's private lives?
If you understand how the technology works, you certainly can hone it down and take full advantage of it. At the same time, as a consumer concerned about your privacy, know that there's very little privacy. Privacy is dead. Privacy is an illusion. They're able to track pretty much everything you do from your Internet Protocol address, sitting in front of your computer at home or at work. So, you know, Big Brother's watching.
I think it sounds pretty cool though from the outset. I mean, I guess the final question The question would be, Robert, is the benefit here— does it outweigh any potential privacy risks?
I would say that overall, as long as you're using it for good, as long as Google is not evil like they say, then this can and probably is a good thing.
Could be a good thing. Robert Siciliano. Robert, good to have you. Martha, back to you.
