Google Shuts Down iGoogle And Four Other Services

[Post=78330 Roderunner]

Hi Folks.
Read about it here.
http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/go ... arch-84945

[Leif]

And Google's own announcment: What's happening to iGoogle? - Web Search Help

(I've moved this thread as this forum is probably more applicable than Windows General...)

[Post=78342 John Gray]

Pity they didn't announce the Return of the Google Toolbar...

[HansV]

You only need to switch to Internet Explorer...
(Or to Chrome, which has many features of Google Toolbar built in)

[Post=78351 agibsonsw]

It's disappointing that iGoogle is to be no more. I'm searching but can't find any comparable tool.

There's something called netvibes but this doesn't include a bookmarks list, and one called new.aboogy.com but this is just a bookmarks page - it doesn't have the live views/previews of iGoogle.

Most importantly I want a list of my bookmarks, but I would prefer to also see a preview of my (yahoo or gmail) emails, and news headlines. Does anyone know of such a site?

Andy.

[Post=79782 Skitterbug]

I know this will seem like a silly waste of time to some but there are times when I like to waste time and playing iGoogle's little app called Cinco by LabPixies does it for me. I'll miss it. I haven't found it anywhere else. Hopefully, someone will point out another site that has this tiny game?

[Post=79797 BobH]

OK, what is iGoogle?

Is it an iOS-only app? What does it do?

[Post=79798 Bigaldoc]

Does this help?

What is iGoogle?

[Post=79815 BobH]

Thanks, Al!

Since I do not trust google to use data it collects either legally and responsibly, I have minimized use of all their products. There are few exceptions but they are things I don't use often like YouTube and googlemaps. If I'm using other products of theirs, I am unaware that the products belong to them.

To me, privacy is a God-given right that was, unfortunately, left out of the preamble to the US Constitution. I would very much like to see the law changed to prevent anyone from gathering data about any individual without due process of law which means - at a minimum - specific permission from the target and/or a warrant issued by a judge. We have become to ovine. Had our ancestors been as we are, we would be subjects of Queen Elizabeth II.

Just my 2¢ worth.

[StuartR]

...I would very much like to see the law changed to prevent anyone from gathering data about any individual without due process of law which means - at a minimum - specific permission from the target and/or a warrant issued by a judge. We have become to ovine. Had our ancestors been as we are, we would be subjects of Queen Elizabeth II

Subjects of Queen Elizabeth II do have a right to privacy, enshrined in law, as do all citizens of the EU. The latest changes to EU data protection laws will provide even greater protection (for example the right to insist that your data is deleted, even if you previously gave consent).

[Post=79819 BobH]

...I would very much like to see the law changed to prevent anyone from gathering data about any individual without due process of law which means - at a minimum - specific permission from the target and/or a warrant issued by a judge. We have become to ovine. Had our ancestors been as we are, we would be subjects of Queen Elizabeth II

Subjects of Queen Elizabeth II do have a right to privacy, enshrined in law, as do all citizens of the EU. The latest changes to EU data protection laws will provide even greater protection (for example the right to insist that your data is deleted, even if you previously gave consent).

I didn't know that, Stuart. The US has laws to protect privacy but there are no constitutional 'guaranties' that give them the tooth I think they should have. To my knowledge, there is nothing that an individual citizen can do to prevent google and facebook or anyone else from gathering data about them and selling it. In fact, our governments do it routinely. Most - if not all - states sell address lists of motor vehicle owners and licensed drivers. They probably sell much more information that I'm not even aware of. An individual cannot call the government agency and get the name and address based on a vehicle license number (at least, not in states that I've lived in); however. There are countless documented cases where law enforcement and other government entities have invaded privacy without cause or lawful procedure.

To my knowledge, it is not illegal for them to do so; but prosecutions relying on such information are sometimes dismissed. Here is an example, in the mid 1950's I witnessed an event and was interviewed by police as a witness - not as a suspect. Forty-some years later, a similar event occurred in the same vicinity and the police called to interview me about it. IMO there is something wrong in this.

Is it possible for British citizens to stop the accretion of data or the use of such data without their permission? How difficult is it for a UK citizen to assert " . . . the right to insist that your data is deleted, even if you previously gave consent?" How can one be certain that when the right is invoked that the data is, in fact, destroyed?

[StuartR]

Here is a summary of the new EU data protection regulations, likely to come into force within the next 2 to 3 years.

The current EU Data Protection Directive was a bit different. It needed each country to pass laws that would protect privacy, and each was a bit different. The new one will be one common law throughout the EU. Also the new regulations have some significant additions, including

• The right to be forgotten
• The right to portability of personal information

as well as the more obvious rights, such as consent, and data only being used for the specific purpose that you have agreed to.

[Post=79827 BobH]

Has Great Britain joined the EU?

I thought that Britain had remained independent of the EU. I'm certain that Britain has not adopted the Euro. Would that not have been a requisite for joining the EU?

[StuartR]

Adoption of the Euro and membership of the EU are separate. Only EU members were allowed to adopt the Euro, but they each had a choice.

[Post=79991 Argus]

Quite a difference, thank goodness.
Also, since the EC, EU etc. came before the monetary union, the euro zone, it wouldn't have had any members back then.

[Post=80051 John Gray]

You might be interested in this (quite amazingly large) list of Google products shut down over the years.

[Post=93131 agibsonsw]

ighome looks to be my replacement for my beloved iGoogle. It is not run by Google so, hopefully, will persist and develop :)

It's a little US-focused and there aren't tons of gadgets as yet, but I'm hoping it will prove popular. It requires a different password to your Google account but, after this step, it was a breeze to import all my Google bookmarks.

Andy.