Dr. Robert Epstein is a Senior Research Psychologist who since 2015 has been monitoring, tracking, and studying Google. In his speech, Dr. Epstein explains how Google is able to manipulate its users and track all they do. While the initial “red flag” that Google does, is tracking and saving all of your data, the more pressing issue is what the data is used for. Many people realize their data is being tracked, they begin to notice more personalized ads and website sources. However, as Dr.Epstein mentions, much of the data tracked can be used to impact political elections. This is one of the most pressing issues the United States may be facing today, and the majority of citizens do not even realize it. With the U.S. already experiencing a highly polarized political climate, the foundations of Democracy are fragile, if it even still exists. In all honesty, this is a major source of evidence that proves the U.S. has moved towards an Oligarchy. Because while on one side Epstein has found how companies affect the voters, the other side is how Google “supports” the nominations it deems best. Alphabet is the parent company of Google formed in 2016 and donated over $21 million dollars to the presidential election. This further proves how powerful and how much control Google has. And the worst part is, this is only one company when there are dozens who practice very similar tactics. The issue of political interference is the main subject of Epstein’s presentation and he even mentions that with this level of impact, how democratic can the U.S. truly be. While listening to his presentation, the issue of how easily swayed Americans are is concerning. However, it could also mean that when people are attempting to research in their own through google they are not necessarily being swayed, if they happen to be neutral and are being presented one-sided evidence, then they are using biased information to base their decisions. The control that google has should be limited, and while tech industries may move faster than the government can keep up with, measures can be put in place to limit Google.
While I had known that google tracks my information and used it for advertising, I had not realized the true extent of their collection and use. Finding out that google buys dozens of companies, I found was a huge issue, and shows the extent of power google has. I am sure in the near future I will find myself moving to a different search engine and limiting my use of Google applications.
