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"Don't be evil" is the formal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google.[1] While there have been unsourced allegations that Google dropped this motto, particularly in light of privacy violations, [2] it remains at the very head of Google's Code of Conduct.[citation needed] It was first suggested either by Google employee Paul Buchheit at a meeting about corporate values that took place in early 2000[3] or in 2001[4] or, according to another account, by Google engineer Amit Patel in 1999.[5] Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said he "wanted something that, once you put it in there, would be hard to take out", adding that the slogan was "also a bit of a jab at a lot of the other companies, especially our competitors, who at the time, in our opinion, were kind of exploiting the users to some extent."[3] While the official corporate philosophy of Google[6] does not contain the words "Don't be evil", they were included in the prospectus (on Form S-1) of Google's 2004 IPO (a letter from Google's founders, later called the "'Don't Be Evil' manifesto"): "Don’t be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served — as shareholders and in all other ways — by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains."[7] The motto is sometimes incorrectly stated as Do no evil.[4][8]
While many companies have ethical codes that govern their conduct in contract, Google claims to have made "Don't Be Evil" a central pillar of their identity[9] as part of their self-proclaimed core values.[10] The words: "Don't be evil" form part of the sixth point in these Core Values, and in full states: "Do the right thing: don't be evil. Honesty and Integrity in all we do. Our business practices are beyond reproach. We make money by doing good things."[6][9]
originally posted by: MarlinGrace
a reply to: Metallicus
I started divorcing myself from google when they were involved in the egyptian revolution and organizing protest through social media. I trust them as far as I can spit into a hurricane.