Google going evil?

At work we often joke about when Google will become evil. They are growing larger and larger every day, with cool new products being launched practically monthly. Most of these products are web based, or tie your computer somehow to the web. There are growing concerns that Google could present privacy issues for its user base. Think about it, Google could know everything about a persons life. With access to your email (if you use gmail), your searches, what’s on your computer(local search app) and every website you browse (if you use their accelerator). What is probably more shocking though is that since they are a US firm under the patriot act at any time they would have to surrender information to the US government. While this is true with most of the web, it seems things are slowly becoming more centralized as Google continues to dominate the marketplace. With Google Maps you can track locations of the closest cabs to your location, or zoom in on satellite images of your house. It is just a matter of time till the start tracking people’s movement. “I wonder where my son is?” “Well find out online with Google people tracker!” Now that Google is a public firm I think it will be a lot harder for them to retain their image, and not fall over to the dark side and join the ranks of the Microsoft’s… Maybe I am just being a little paranoid…