Google Desktop 3 Creates Privacy Concerns
Google’s new beta version of its Google Desktop 3 allows users to transfer information from one computer to another, essentially allowing them “access to anything from anywhere,” as Gartner analyst Allen Weiner put it. In order to utilize this service, users must agree to allow Google to store the data on their servers for no more than 30 days.
The computer-to-computer search function requires a user to specify what information should be indexed for search and then allows Google to transfer the data to its own storage system. Google will then encrypt all of the data that has been transferred from users’ hard drives and limit access to the information to a small group of its employees, who Google assures will not look through any of the transferred data.
Google also asserts that no password-protected files and secure Web pages, such as bank account information and similar types of data, will be transferred. Users will also be able to clear any information from Google’s servers by simply hitting a button.
At face value it seems like a near-brilliant concept that Google executives are touting as a huge convenience for a large number of PC users, especially those who want to access data on their work computers from their home computer and vice versa. However, as expected, there are big concerns about the privacy issues at stake with this new service.
On their Web site, the Electronic Frontier Foundation said that they urge “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.”
Google does not seem to be denying that there is some risk involved. “We think this will be a very useful tool, but you will have to give up some of your privacy. For many of us, that trade off will make a lot of sense,” said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google.
In regards to subpoenas, a Google spokeswoman said that “for the files stored on Google servers we would of course comply with valid legal process, but we provide notice to users when a request for their data is made, unless we are prohibited from doing that.”
Google has been fighting a subpoena requesting random Web search records served by the Justice Department, garnering more national attention to the issue of Internet privacy. Yahoo!, Microsoft, and AOL have already given the Bush administration some of the information they requested, but all three Web giants claim that their cooperation did not compromise users’ privacy.
The new desktop service also allows users to set up a variety of “widgets,” which are mini-applications that observes topic-specific information such as stock quotes, news stories, and weather. These widgets can then be shared with friends and other users, mirroring the social interaction-based moves by Yahoo! in recent months.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_hi_te/google_desktop
http://news.com.com/Google+Desktop+3+criticized/2100-1032_3-6038197.html
