Google Desktop To Allow File Transfers, For A Price
The latest version of Google Desktop Search has a feature that allows a person to transfer files from one computer to another, but this feature comes at a price that has become all too familiar with Google: Privacy.
It seems anymore that almost every post that I write about Google is negative. It’s not because I try to find negative posts about the company; I have no agenda against them. It’s simply that they keep doing things that either don’t work or raises warning flags.
I have officially adopted the mindset that any service that Google launches will have the requirement of giving up an uncomfortable amount of personal privacy. I no longer use any of their new services without first asking myself exactly how the new service can be used for data mining. If it doesn’t have that requirement at its initial “beta” launch then it surely will in time.
Case in point: Google Desktop Search.
One of the reasons that I don’t use the program is because I was always wondered how they would gain access to the information on my PC. Perhaps that seems a bit paranoid, but anyone taking an honest look at Google’s data mining behavior could hardly blame me for considering this possibility.
That question has been answered, and at best it falls into a grey area.
The good news is that you have to authorize the program to transfer specific files or folders. Also, GDS is apparently getting a password feature to prevent unauthorized use of the program. So perhaps this alleviates any concern about privacy, and for some that may be the case.
The bad news is that Google requires that you allow them to store those personal files on their system for 30 days if you want to use the new file transfer feature. So along with everything else that they know about you - your dating and real life social habits if you use Orkut, everything that you talk about in your email, your web searches, what you chat about, the videos that you watch, the news that you read, and much more - they’re also going to know some of the data that you store on your PC.
Isn’t that just wonderful? No. I don’t see how anyone could possibly think that this is a good idea. To make matters worse you now have the government knocking on Google’s doors wanting search data.
Google is bad news for personal privacy. They have to be the largest data mining corporation in the world. Others, especially fanboys, may be fine with it all. Personally it makes me very uncomfortable.
So this is my “aha!” moment. I now know how they’re going to use Google Desktop Search to mine your (very) personal data and I have mixed feelings over it, but when it comes right down to it I’m glad that I chose not to run the software.
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~Mysk
Technorati Tags: Google, Privacy, Data Mining
Topics: Waste Basket |
February 9th, 2006 at Feb 09, 06 | 11:50 pm
Apparently the EFF thinks that Google Desktop Search is a major privacy concern as well. Here are their comments: click here to read the EFF article about GDS.