As much as I am genuinely fond of Google in spite of myself, I have to say it seems to be a good idea to draw lines of boundaries between independent machines and the network. I don't want to blur the desktop machine and bleed it into the network.
I have the same issues with Apple's .Mac accounts that people are supposed to use for backing up one's hard drive. The accounts aren't big enough to be useful backups, imho.
If I were to make an analogy, I'd say it's the difference between keeping a safe in your house for your tax papers or whatever, vs storing that stuff somewhere else. Sure, you could store it just anywhere, but I'd bet you'd be more likely to go to a bank with good safe deposit boxes.
The stuff on your hard drive should only be stored off-site in the equivalent of a safe deposit box. If the place you're thinking of storing it isn't that safe, don't do it.
Link: EFF: Breaking News: Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation.
Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation
Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop
San Francisco - Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password.
"Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully—and most people won't—Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants—your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever—could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files."
The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers—much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it.
[...]
Comments