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Google Desktop and Your Privacy |
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Written by Ian Davidson
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Thursday, 01 June 2006 |
...Or, Use a Typewriter and Burn the Ribbon.
Hey, did you know that Google is the only one of the Big 3 search companies to refuse a recent US subpoena for a list of their search terms (it had something to do with Homeland Security)? Well, what do you have to worry about if you have nothing to hide, right? I certainly don’t, but I still think I’ll wait on this product.
Consider this if you have or are thinking about using Google Desktop, the cool tool that indexes all file types on your hard drive including email and pictures and everything else for instant querying by Google like searches from any PC in the world: it really works, and it’s really cool, but one of it’s key features known as ‘Search Across Computers’, conveniently moves copies of all your hard drive user files onto A GOOGLE SERVER. Of course, says Google, the benefits of sophisticated search options outweigh any security issues.
Although the privacy advocates Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org) and many corporate IT administrators are warning users not to use the product, a Google spokeswoman reassuringly affirmed that “privacy was an important consideration in the development of this feature”. She pointed out that the feature is switched off by default when users first install the software and that they have to opt in on all the computers they use. Data is stored only temporarily on Google's servers. A permanent copy is saved on the user's hard drives.
Well, golly, the permanent copy is on the user’s hard drive. How considerate. My recommendation? Keep using Google.com (there’s no great danger there) but stay clear of the new Desktop Search product unless you really want Google storing a copy of your or your company’s data. Beware—it comes as a default download when you upgrade your Java Virtual Machine software. If you (or your company) truly have nothing to hide, then go for it. But you might want to ask the CEO about it first.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 October 2006 )
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