‘Google Coin’ : The media space is currently enthralled by the idea of big corporations venturing into digital currency. Facebook led the way for the big four internet companies (Amazon, Netflix, Google and Facebook) with plans for launching the Libra stablecoin. While Bitcoin had a rough 2019 ending, the blockchain ecosystem entered into a hectic 2020 start. Price swings are not that frequent and at best, no more Initial Coins Offerings and scams to wade of industry attention. The fact that it’s so hard to predict tomorrow gains with digital assets, positioned institutions and corporations as mere observers. However, the sublime of events into a subtle crypto sphere is shifting attention towards development of fresh projects. While it is Bitcoin that sparked the digital money revolution, established internet firms and central banks will create the future. Speaking about digital money, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss highlighted the Big Four, will each have at least one digital currency project by 2021. Headlines of Google attaining Quantum Computing Supremacy in late 2019 voiced alarm on the future of Bitcoin. Later on China would join the space with claims of working towards quantum computing technology. This technology breakthrough raised more fear than fun among blockchain communities, given that quantum technology could easily affect Bitcoin’s key features. If quantum computing falls in the hand of cybercriminals, they could easily hack cryptocurrency ledgers and take control of the blockchain. Following Google’s breakthrough, the search giant entered into a partnership with Citigroup for launching a fully-fledged smart checking bank account through Google Pay. This announcement piled pressure on Bitcoin developers and the blockchain community to enhance Bitcoin’s user experience and mass adoption. Or else Google wipes cryptocurrencies to redundancy. The Internet mogul code-named its planned bank account to Cache and anticipates to enable users to implement Google’s analytic tools in traditional banking products. The firm expects to launch the payment service by the end of 2020, alongside Facebook’s Libra coin. Two projects that pose a major competition for Bitcoin.
Google Coin Compliance Debate
Regulators in the United States are still concerned that Facebook’s Libra could potentially bypass the US dollar. In addition to as well bypassing the traditional banking system. Meanwhile, with China hot on heels to launch its digital stablecoin, Mark Zuckerberg believes Libra is the only saving grace for the US dollar in the currency wars. Moreover, Google executive Caesar Sengupta in an interview with the Wall Street Journal noted that Google Pay’s approach is to partner with the existing financial ecosystem. It might occur that Facebook is the only tech giant struggling with data privacy concerns, yet numerous user privacy controversies have plagued Google as well. For at least half a decade now.
Google’s Ad Data Aggregation Could Fuel Google Coin
Majority internet scholars argue that Google is an ad company and not a consumer software firm. Hence to make possible its outreach, the search engine collects exhaustive amounts of user data to render its service. Achieving the full capability of targeted ads calls for an extensive understanding of browsing habits, user background, purchases and several other preferences. All of which Google has the ability to cling to through data aggregation and analysis. Unlike Facebook, Google plays its role in protecting user data from hackers and phishing attempts. However, the internet giant’s model needs to collect as much online data as possible for cross-correlating between your offline persona and your online preferences. Ben Smith, a Vice President of Engineering and a fellow at Google admits that ads contribute a significant amount of revenue for the company. An amount averaging at least $33.7 Billion per year. The revenue does plays a big part in driving Google’s core mission to provide value to everyone. It’s not every day that a company provides top quality products to worldwide users at no monetary cost. Thanks to the ad revenue, Google can afford to develop expansive user security solutions for free. Yet here is the big question: are these services free in the actual sense, or does Google provide them for free at the expense of user privacy? Let find out, because; If Facebook’s Libra gives you worry, Google coin should definitely give you migraine. Here are six good reasons.
Google Coin Data Privacy Concerns
- Tracking – Tracking and providing user information to advertisers around the world gave Google a whopping $95 Billion in 2017. The internet company tracks through its various applications , from gmail to android phones.
- Incognito – The incognito mode on Google’s Chrome browser tricks users into thinking they are anonymously surfing the net. However, this method is only meant to bar Google from tracking your information. Nonetheless, other websites on the internet can easily track you.
- Gmail – It is common to find targeted ads a few seconds into using Google’s search engine. The firm combines its native tracking capabilities with the search engine and Gmail to win sufficient user information.
- Cookies -These are such a crafty way of accumulating user data. Besides Google, hundreds of thousands of internet businesses use them to collect user information. Worse thing is that cookies are stored on a user’s device.
- Data Leaks – Despite the company admitting to setting aside massive resources for deploying security and privacy checkups, there is always the chance of bug leak. In 2009, at least 0.5 percent of google doc users had their data leaked following a bug leak.
- Association with National Intelligence (CIA & NSA) – Google has partnership ties with In-Q-Tel, an investment subsidiary of the CIA. The subsidiary provides cutting edge technologies to the Intelligence. Which means they can easily acquire user data from Google, if they wanted to.
While it is not that Alphabet Inc (Google’s Parent Company) is an unethical company to just sell your privacy; there lies a formidable risk with such a company owning your financial data. Well if Google coin launched today, who knows the amount of financial data we would provide them with. The fact is we provide too much data to Google and that would pose great risk to users of Google Coin. Tim Draper believes that the fiat to cryptocurrency usage ration will become 50-50 after digital currencies become cheaper and frictionless to operate. He added that the attainment of this ratio will make spending and investing of Cryptocurrencies easier and convenient, than it is with dollars. With Google, Facebook and other tech companies joining the race to digital money, the ratio outlook is by far possible sooner than later. A situation that also validates that digital currencies are here to stay. Sengupta said that:
“It may be the slightly longer path, but it’s more sustainable. If we can help more people do more stuff in a digital way online, it’s good for the internet and good for us.”
The biggest concerns around Libra and Google Coin lie within regulatory compliance, digital security and data privacy. While data privacy is a growing concern with Facebook, and Google positioning itself as the ethical outlier of “Never be Evil”; users still have not been able to abandon the consumption of their services. Meanwhile, Google Coin poses a bigger threat against Bitcoin than Quantum computing.